Fear of Math

HOW TO GET
OVER IT AND GET ON
WITH YOUR LIFE

LUUI ZSVSK

Rutgers University Press

New Brunswick, New Jersey
For permission to publish their cartoons, the author thanks the following:
Page 83: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction; ND State Board for
Vocational Education; ND Governor's Council on Human Resources.
Page 98: David Shenton, artist; it frst appeared in The Guardian (U.K.)
(15 March 1989).
Page 108: by Wasserman. Copyright 1981, Boston Globe. Distributed by Los
Angeles Times Syndicate. Reprinted by permission.
Page 130: William T. Coulter, artist.
Page 189: Copyright 1991 EQUALS, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of
California, Berkeley.
Page 191: from Mathematics: The Invisible Filter, by the Mathematics
Department, Board of Education for City of Toronto.
Page 211: Copyright 1988 by the Regents of the University of California;
FAMILY MATH, Lawrence Hall of Science.
Pages 62,139,148,180,203,205: Karen Reeds for her cartoons.
For permission to use their photographs, the author thanks the following:
Page 119: The AmYork Teacher and Mina Choi.
Page 134: Donald W. Crowe.
All other photographs and illustrations are by Sam Zaslavsky.
For permission to reprint the following selections, the author thanks:
Page 50: Phyllis R. Steinmann for Another Longitudinal Study."
Page 144: Gary Hendren and the MCTM Bulletin for the word problem.
Page 166: Beverly Siapin and New Society Publishers for "Two Plus Two or
Why Indians Flunk."
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Zaslavsky, Claudia.
Fear of math: how to get over it and' get on with your life /
Claudia Zaslavsky.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8135-2090-8 (c1oth)-0-8 1 35-2099-1 (pbk.)
1. Math anxiety. 2. Mathematics-Study and teaching.
Self-help techniques. I. Title.
QAII.Z37 1994
370.15'651-dc20 93-43904
CIP
British Cataloging-in-Publication information available
Copyright T 1994 by Claudia Zaslavsky
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
To Sam, for unfailing help with this book,
and in many other ways

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction
ChapterO Who's Afraid of Math? 5
Chapter Two Who Needs Math? Everybody! 26
Chapter Tree Myths of Innate Inferiority 47
Chapter Four "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to
Waste! " Gender, Race, Ethnicity,
and Class 69
Chapter Five Our Schools Are Found Wanting 100
Chapter Si School Math Is Not Necessarily
Real Math 1 32
Chapter Seven Everybody Can Do Math:
Solving the Problem 163
Chapter Eight Families, the First Teachers 193
Chapter Nine Mathematics of the People, by the
People, for the People 21 6
Resources Intervention Programs 225
Organizations and
Government Agencies 227
Distributors of Mathematics
Books and Materials 230
Select Bibliography 230
Notes 237
Indx 257

Acknowldgnts
This book is truly the outcome of a joint effort. The initial impe
tus came from my friend Rose Wyler. She had the foresight to
predict that such a book would be both useful and necessary. I
hope she is right.
I want to acknowledge the many women and men who gave
of their time, effort, and expertise to make this book possible.
They responded to my inquiries by phone, mail, and personal
conversation. They sent articles, books, and unpublished papers.
They furnished valuable information about resources, reports,
and meetings, and made further contacts possible. Many of
these people are cited in the text and the notes. To all, I extend
my appreciation for their valuable assistance.
I am grateful to the hundreds of people who took the time
and trouble to write their math autobiographies at my request.
Their experiences with mathematics were often inspiring, but
more frequently devastating. I would have liked to include all of
them. To those contributors named in the text, and to the many
more identifed only by assumed frst names, I say a heartfelt
"Thank you." l owe a special expression of gratitude to Mary Jo
Cittadino, whose inspiring words I have used throughout the
book.
Perhaps as diffcult as writing a math autobiography was
the task of collecting such information from others-relatives,
friends, associates, and students. For their tremendous assis
tance I want to thank Barbara Barone, Joanne Rossi Becker,
Sylvia Bozeman, Manon Charboneau, Gil Cuevas, Linda Fal
stein, Len Feldman, Maryam Hastings, Don Hill, Lotus Jones,
Pat Kenschaft, Vera Preston, Gayle L. Smith, Phyllis Steinmann,
Lyn Taylor, Marion Walter, Betsey Whitman, Pat Woodruff, and
Suzette Wright.
Several experts read sections of the manuscript in its vari
ous drafts and offered valuable critiques, advice, and materials.
For this time-consuming contribution I want to thank Olivia

ACKN OWL EDGME NT S

Abelson, Jon Beckwith, Lotus Jones, Frances McGhee, John
McGhee, Lucy Sells, Ethel Tobach, Joe Washington, Suzette
Wright, Alan Zaslavsky, Sam Zaslavsky, and especially Pat
Kenschaft.
I am indebted to my editors: to Pat Woodruff for getting me
started, to Miriam Schocken and Susan Rabiner, and fnally, to
Karen Reeds of Rutgers University Press for her faith in the
project, for her many constructive criticisms, for her cartoon
art, and for seeing the book through to the end,
Very special thanks are due my family-my husband, Sam,
who did the line drawings; my sons Tom and Alan, and their
wives, Zabeda and Noel-for their never-failing support and
their good suggestions, based on their own relevant experiences.

0rojMar

Introduction
This book has a vast potential audience. It is addressed to all of
you who have negative feelings about mathematics, whatever
the reasons. My main motive for writing this book is to show you
that you are not to blame for those negative feelings. Most likely
you are a victim of the many conditions in our society that bring
about fear and avoidance of math. Do not despair! As many
people have already found out, it is possible to change feelings
about mathematics from negative to positive.
Who are all you math-fearing and math-avoiding people?
You may feel inadequate because math never did make sense
to you. It is possible to overcome those feelings of inadequacy.
You may be a college student, whether a recent high school
graduate or an older adult going back to school after many
years. You can learn to cope with the required math courses.
You may be a worker enrolled in a training program to up
grade your skills for the new technologies. You can learn to
handle those unfamiliar math problems.
You may be a parent, teacher, or caregiver of young children.
You don't want to pass along your negative attitude to the
next generation.
This book offers help to those of you who need it right now. It
includes excerpts from dozens of "math autobiographies," some
written by math fearers, others by those who have overcome
their fear and avoidance. They are people with whom you can
identify and say, "That's how I feel" or "That's how my problem
started." Pinpointing the problem is a frst step in overcoming
negative feelings about math.
I will discuss the many factors in our society that may have
led to your diffculties with mathematics. Among them are inade
quate schools, poor teaching, inappropriate mathematics pro
grams, and stereotypes about who can and who should do math.
3
I NTRODUC T I ON
In the following chapters I offer concrete suggestions to help
you attain mathematical competence, based on the experiences
of successful teachers and learners. I recommend enjoyable ac
tivities you can use to give young children an early start in
math, regardless of your own mathematical inadequacies.
The book includes real-life biographies of people who over
came great odds to achieve success in math-related felds. It gives
examples of the mathematical practices of many cultures. It in
cludes real-life problems to help you as a concerned citizen to
make informed decisions about important issues in our society.
This is not the frst book to deal with the subject of " fear of
math" or "math anxiety." But I believe that this is the frst book
for the general public to focus on the many factors in our society
that bring about fear and avoidance of mathematics, and the
influence of these factors on various groups in the population.
Previous treatments of the subject have centered on the psycho
logical effects of math phobia, with the goal of encouraging
"math-anxious" individuals to overcome their fears and inhibi
tions by self-help methods.
The problem of " math anxiety" came to the fore in the mid-
1970s as a feminist issue. Young women were not taking the high
school math courses they needed for many college majors, and, as
a consequence, they were excluding themselves from promising
and well-paying careers. Lucy Sells, a California sociologist,
called mathematics the "critical flter." Some colleges responded
by setting up clinics to serve their math-avoiding female stu
dents. Most of the books, articles, and research studies dealing
with fear and avoidance of mathematics have addressed the issue
of gender and mathematics. Incidentally, some women in the
feld have objected to the use of the term "anxiety" as implying a
form of psychological illness, rather than a condition that can be
overcome.
A far greater problem of math avoidance is the exclusion of
many working-class people and people of color from the growing
number of careers requiring some mathematical background, or,
at the very least, an entry test on topics in mathematics. More
over, most colleges now have mathematics requirements for all
students. There is a growing awareness of the need for studies
exploring the interconnections of race and ethnicity with eco
nomic and social status as they affect mathematics achievement
and restrict access to college education and careers.
Z
I NTRODUC T I ON
In this book I have drawn upon my many years of experi
ence in teaching mathematics at different levels-to teachers,
aspiring teachers, secondary and elementary school students. I
was fortunate in having taught secondary school mathematics
in a New York State district that mandated integration by bus
ing in 1 95 1 , three years before the famous Supreme Court deci
sion on school integration. All our elementary school classes
were balanced for ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic level.
Although young women were well represented in advanced
high school mathematics courses, few African Americans con
tinued to that level. When we wrote our own courses, more
friendly and relevant than the standard curriculum, many
more students, both black and white, studied mathematics all
through high school .
As you read this book you will hear the voices of people from
different ethnic/racial backgrounds, ranging in age from fourteen
to sixty-eight. In response to my request I received over fve hun
dred math autobiographies-from friends and acquaintances,
from their relatives and friends, and from instructors of a diver
sity of students. It was not easy to select representative samples
to include in this book. More women than men were willing to
express their feelings and doubts. Although I have changed the
names when requested, I am sure that the writers will recognize
themselves. These anonymous voices tell their experiences with
learning and doing math. I have also cited research, wherever
available, to back up their stories. One unpleasant incident in
third grade really can rob a young woman of confdence in her
ability to take a college course in statistics. Sensational, and
unfounded, newspaper reports about boys, but not girls, having
a "gene for math" really do influence parents and teachers.
Placement in the "slow track" in second grade really does mean
that African-American children or non-English-speaking chil
dren may not be eligible to study algebra and other college
entrance math courses in high school.
The question of assigning labels to ethnic and cultural
groups is a diffcult one to resolve. A name that is acceptable to
some people may be anathema to others. In the media and in
many goverment reports, groups that are not "white" are fre
quently lumped together as "nonwhite" or "minority." "Non
white" implies that "white" is the standard, like defning women
as "non-men. " The word "minority" may carry the implication of
3
I N T RODU C T I ON
a lower status than the "white" majority. Furthermore, "minor
ity" lumps together many diverse groups as though they are all
the same.
There are problems, too, with more specifc names. There is
disagreement about the use of black, Black, or African American,
about Latino/Latina rather than Hispanic. Each of these group
ings covers people of varied backgrounds. African Americans in
clude those born in the United States, in Caribbean countries, and
elsewhere, of different economic levels, and from urban, subur
ban, and rural backgrounds. Hispanics (people with Spanish
language background) may be mainland or island Puerto Ricans,
of Mexican origin, from South or Central America or the Carib
bean, and from diverse social, racial, and economic backgrounds.
A similar analysis applies to Asian Americans. The term" Native
American" is preferred by some indigenous people, while others
would rather be considered American Indian, but all agree that
they prefer to be identifed by their ethnic group.
How to resolve this problem? At times I have used the terms
that appear in the media and in many research reports: minor
ity, black, white, Hispanic. At other times I have used different
designations. To distinguish between the dominant "white" ma
jority and a group that includes African Americans, Asian Ameri
cans, Latinos/Latinas, and American Indians, I have also used
the term "people of color."
In the fnal analysis, I hope that you will look beyond the
labels and accept this book for its discussion of urgent societal
problems that affect so many of us.
4
CHAPTER ONE

Wo's Afaid of Math?

Almost immediately following graduation [from high school], I
found not understanding mathematics, not being able to do
math, a problem. Four years of no math or science contributed
to a gradual decline in my confdence-not only about math
but about intelligence. It didn't happen all at once, but it hap
pened inexorably.
As a result, I avoided any confrontation or questioning in
normal situations of making any kind of purchase. It was too
scary. I also didn't even always know to question, or how to
question. ] needed to go away by myself and fgure it out with
paper and pencil to determine if a mistake had been made.
-Mar JOCittadino, Mathematics Educator,
EQUAL, University o(Caii(omia at Berkeley
Many people think of mathematics as one of the most logical,
most impersonal branches of knowledge, yet it inspiresmoreemo
tion than any other school subject. Whenever I mention to any
group of people that I am wri ting a book to help those who fear or
avoid math, immediately someone will say: "I never could do
math! " or volunteer an experience that led to fear or avoidance. It
happens with even the most casual acquaintances-the lawyer
sitting next to me at a concert, the young woman on the ski lift. In
the United States most people would be ashamed to admit that
they never could learn to read, yet it is perfectly respectable to
confess that one can't do math.
Mathematics has such a bad reputation in this country that
it can be used to induce emotional stress. Physicians measuring
blood flow under various stress conditions give their patients "a
barrage of mental arithmetic problems" as a surefre method of
inducing stress. "
Many people recall math as punishment. The humorist Rus
sell Baker remembered how his seventh-grade class was to have
the privilege of hearing a broadcast of a live concert. Any stu
dent who preferred not to listen was excused to go to another
5
WH O'S AF RAI D OF MATH?
classroom. No fan of "longhair music, " Baker gladly left with his
pals. "We rebels had contemplated a pleasant hour pelting each
other with erasers and upsetting ink jars. Imagine then our de
spair to see stern Miss Ward, the teacher who struck fear in the
hearts of boys, stride into the room, command absolute silence
and hand out thick wads of arithmetic problems to kill the
hour. "2
Math anxiety can afflict the most competent and intelligent
people. I always enjoy listening to Steve Post's "Morning Music "
program on New York's public radio station. One morning he
read excerpts from a newspaper article about an experiment in
which a small group of exceptionally nervous high school stu
dents had been given a drug to induce relaxation (not recom
mended for general use!) before retaking the Scholastic Aptitude
Test (SAT). Although students who take the test over again with
out special preparation typically increase their math scores by
an average of twenty points, these students improved by seventy
points.3
This bright, perceptive, intelligent commentator went on to
tell of his own experiences in the academic world. His school
performance had been so poor that he had never been consid
ered eligible to take the SATs. Math was his worst subject, and
he recalled with dread the nightmare before a mathematics test:
the test was written on his bed sheet, but because he was lying
on it, he couldn't even read the questions, much less answer
them. He claimed that the fear had stayed with him to that day.'
Negative feelings about math can take a variety of forms.
Some people suffer from fear of math, while others have simply
avoided the subject. Perhaps lack of confdence in their mathe
matical ability was at the root of their avoidance, or they were
just not interested-or a dozen other reasons. There are the
"weak-in-math " and the "rusty-in-math " individuals. Some ft
into more than one category. Any one of these conditions may be
involved in the syndrome known as "math anxiety " or "math
ephobia, " a state of mind that makes it diffcult or even impos
sible for you to use the math skills that you already have. It may
be accompanied by physical symptoms, such as headaches, nau
sea, heart palpitations, and dizziness. It surfaces in its most
extreme form when you have to take a test. Although a certain
amount of anxiety about a new or stressful situation is perfectly
normal, and may even stimulate you to perform well, the term
6
WH O'S AF RAI D O F MAT H ?
"math anxiety" is reserved for a condition that is traumatic and
debilitating.
Who are these math fearers and avoiders? They are people of
all ages, and from all walks of life. They are highly placed profes
sionals and high school dropouts. They are at all levels of math
ematical incompetence, from simple arithmetic to advan eed
college courses. They are white, black, Asian, Latino/Latina,
American Indian, of all ethnic and racial backgrounds. And, con
trary to the general belief, they are male as well as female.
Originally math anxiety was considered an affliction pecu
liar to women, but as Steve Post's experience illustrates, men
are also subject to this syndrome. Here is an entry from the
journal of an adult male college student:
Growing up, I was raised by my grandparents who had
defnite roles ( j.e., man breadwinner-woman house
wife), so I was conditioned to a lot of sexist stereotypes.
Math fts into that mold. I feel that my fears of math,
and thinking that I could never do it, have always been
a subtle reflection on my masculinity. Not that I ever
doubted being a man, but maybe a little less of a man
when I would stop reading an article or report when
the author started throwing statistics or other numbers
around.S
A teacher of adults in London had this to say about the male
students in her statistics class: "I think the men were suffering
more than the women, because at least the women were able to
express their frustration and fears. Having done so, they then
got on with the test and said: 'Oh, it wasn't so bad after all. I can
do it. ' " She cited the case of a man in the class who was unable
to put his pen to the paper to carry out an assignment. "All I can
see is that bastard, my father, standing over me, " he muttered
through clenched teeth.'
As I thought about this book, I started to gather research
reports and news articles concerning math fear and avoidance.
But more than reports and statistics, I wanted the living stories of
those who were affected. I wanted you, the reader of this book, to
know that you are not alone, that there are millions out there who
also fear and shun mathematics. I started by speaking to friends
and acquaintances. Then I asked several college math instructors
7
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MATH?
in various parts of the country to have their students write about
their experiences and feelings. One professor sent me over two
hundred responses, written by students at levels ranging from
freshmen to seniors, remedial to graduating engineers.
Respondents were asked to give their ages and their race
and/or ethnicity. 1 have included the information about race and
ethnicity whenever it was pertinent, so that readers might iden
tify with their experiences and diffculties-and triumphs. 1 do
mention age. Attitudes about the need for mathematics have
changed over the years, and older people should know that it is
not too late for them to become lovers of math.
Some people merely said something like: "I loved algebra,
but hit bottom with geometry. " Others wrote a page or two de
scribing incidents in their childhood that had led them to fear
math for years afterward. It was heartening to discover that some
people, although they had done poorly in elementary or secon
dary school, had overcome their handicaps to the point where
they were taking advanced college mathematics courses or en
gaged in occupations that required mathematical knowledge.
Mary Jo Cittadino (age 50 at this writing), whom 1 quoted at
the beginning of this chapter, is a success, a person who over
came her fears and avoidance to become a mathematics instruc
tor in the EQUALS program at the Lawrence Hall of Science,
University of California at Berkeley. She writes so eloquently
about her history and feelings that 1 use pieces of her autobiogra
phy to i ntroduce the frst eight chapters of this book.
Here are the words of Verna, who had recently returned to
college. She expresses so well the fears and loss of self-esteem
that many people suffer as a result of math anxiety:
1 "bypassed" math for as long as possible until 1 discov
ered 1 needed remedial math . . . + 1 cannot accurately
describe my fears. 1 became so terrifed that 1 was on the
verge of withdrawing from college. 1 felt 1 would never
succeed. The fear caused mental paralysis. The more 1
attempted to overcome the fear, the more "blocked" 1
became. The more "blocked," the more futile the at
tempt. 1 dreaded the exams. 1 became hysterical and
then self-loathing set in; "I was a failure, and 1 failed
because 1 was stupid. " That describes the general cycle. 1
disliked math because 1 had such a fear of i t.
8
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MAT H ?
I struggled through remedial several times until f
nall y, I passed after a minisession offered in the summer.
I began to like math when I began to succeed (passing the
exams). My fears have not been totally alleviated . . . ,
but I don't think I will return to my initial paralyzing
fear. I' m at present about to complete a course in statis
tics (psychology); it's a bit rough going, but I'm not
afraid to try.
Deena (age 1 8), just entering college, has not yet seen a way
out. She wrote: "Fear in elementary school , fear in high school,
still nervous. If I knew how to overcome it, I wouldn't have the
feeling of fear. "
Although Laura (age 32) had used mathematics in her work,
she did not escape the fear of college math. As a commercial
underwriter in insurance for thirteen years before returning to
college, she had used what she considered "concrete sensible
math." When she transferred from a junior to a four-year col
lege, she was required to take calculus. "I almost died! I got
pains in my side." Before a test she would get headaches that
intensifed as the exam day approached. The night before the
test she would throw up. The professor, a "diffcult, unkind task
master," ignored her pleas for help, and the A' s she had earned i n
her earlier math courses di d not increase her self-confdence. "I
felt I had received them by good luck, even though I really
worked hard! I felt I did NOT deserve them somehow." She
could not explain the origin of her fear, but suspects she had
internalized the stereotype that girls couldn't do math. A "Mind
Over Math" workshop, which dealt with her anxiety from the
psychological angle, helped her to get her fears out into the
open, and to realize that she is one of many with similar prob
lems. One aim of this book is to give you the equivalent of such a
workshop: a no-fault approach to overcoming your fear of math.
Most of the math autobiographies I quote are from women.
Like the teacher in London, I found that far fewer men than
women were willing to analyze and put down on paper their
negative feelings about mathematics. Men were more apt to
describe how they had "conquered their weaknesses. " Les and
Jay, both juniors at a historically black university, are typical.
Les recalled: "In high school I performed very poorly in math.
However, I continued to take math courses. Having a desire to
9
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MAT H ?
conquer my weakness,' upon graduating from high school, I
chose to major in electrical engineering. Although I performed
poorly i n high school , I have excelled in math thus far in college.
I did not overcome my fear of math; however, I used my fear of
math to motivate me to study. "
Jay compares doing math with athletic practice. "I over
came my fear of math when I realized it was something you had
to work at and practice a lot, just as though you were preparing
for a ball game. "
Marvin, a premed college senior at the same institution, had
neglected mathematics in favor of other subjects. However, in
college he realized that he needed to bolster his mathematical
ability. He followed his own advice: "Put fear aside and do more
math. Realize i t requires hard work just like anything else . . . . I
attacked math and inundated myself with math-related mate
rial. I then realized that it just required self-confdence and a
willingness to conquer this beast called mathematics."
Mike (age 21 ) is a junior in college. " [In elementary school] I
didn't like the idea of doing hard math, math that required a lot
of thinking . . . . [High school] is when the thought of doing math
made me sick the most, because my math courses grew harder.
By the twelfth grade I became interested in math and working
with numbers. Now I am a Math Major; that should answer your
question. "
Phil (age 28) had a mixture of good and bad experiences in
elementary and secondary school. Ten years later he decided to
enter college. Now in a calculus class, he has chosen to remain a
mediocre student.
One problem I have with math is that with any other
subject I can guarantee myself an A if I just attend regu
larly and put in relatively minimal effort. Math requires
me to put in more effort for less gain than any other
subject. . . . I don't think anything can replace hard work
and continued studying. I could get an A out of any math
class that I've ever been in but sometimes I just avoid
the work in favor of last-minute cramming before a test.
It is nice to be able to stay on top of the subject until test
time. The feeling of confdence you have when you look
at the exam and it doesn' t look like it was written in a
foreign language is great, although for me, rare.
1 0
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MATH?
Phil reminds me of the smoker who says he can quit any time he
feels like it, but never does-until it has affected his health and
it's too late.
Alan (age 29) was one of the few males who was willing to
discuss his math avoidance, a problem so severe as to affect his
teenage social life.
It seems, as I recall, that I've always avoided any situa
tions dealing with mathematical problems. In school I
would just "get by" with a passing grade . . . . In real life
situations again I tended to avoid math. I remember not
being able to play pool and avoided it rather than prac
tice as a teenager . . . . Now I'm attempting and succeed
ing at learning the one subject I've had the most fear of.
It's just a matter of sitting down and not avoiding. I do
my homework assignments and regard them as a chal
lenge rather than as a chore. I fnd myself having to
relearn basic skills . . . . Overcoming math problems has
been a humbling experience. I'll just keep working at it
until I get it right.
Len (age 26) felt that the worst thing that happened to him
in math was when he was i ntroduced to fractions. In college he
repeated the "basic skills " course several times before he passed.
According to his instructor, Len refused to take responsibility for
his learning and blamed others for his failure. She believes that
he fnally matured when he participated in a gay demonstra
tion. Len wrote that now "math is coming along quite smoothly,
no real problems . . . . To think back, it's hard to remember why
the fear was so strong! " Perhaps Len's main problem was not
really math.
The computer has brought new fears to many people. Fear
of the computer can be even more devastating than math pho
bia. Elementary school kids (usually male) handle these com
plex machines with the greatest self-confdence, while their
mothers and their teachers (mostly female) are afraid to touch
them. At a New York computer show, according to a story in the
Ne York Times (2 April 1984), a woman confessed: ''I'm walking
around here in a fog. I'm so far behind that I'd have to overcome
my computer phobia before I could even sign up for a course on
it. " Nearby her fourteen-year-old son was discussing technical
1 1
WH O' S A F RAI D OF MATH?
details of his own work with computers. ''I've tried to teach
her "-he nodded toward his mother. "She's smart enough. She's
just scared. "
Many of my respondents were able to trace their fears to specifc
incidents i n elementary school. Often the problem begins with
the failure to understand some concepts. A student is out sick, or
transfers to another school, or just doesn' t get it when the topic
is taught. The result-fear of all math.
Now an elementary school teacher, Charlotte was so bright
that she was skipped from third to ffth grade. Unfortunately she
missed learning long division. '" developed a good case of math
phobia and avoidance behavior as a result. ' decided that ' was a
failure at math and that ' didn't have a good brain for math. "
This attitude stayed with her throughout high school and col
lege. Finally she was able to overcome her fears in some stimulat
ing graduate mathematics courses for teachers.
Betty traces her fears to an extended hospitalization in frst
grade. All through elementary and high school she disliked math
and avoided it as much as possible. Enrolled in college at the age
of 28, she wrote: ' " fnd myself avoiding taking the math en
trance exam for math placement. I've learned to refer to the test
as the 'plague.' " So paralyzed was she that she had made no
effort to investigate her institution's remedial program. Some
time later, Betty enlisted the aid of a friend and, to her surprise
and delight, passed the dreaded exam.
The mother of a fourteen-year-old son, Keisha (age 29) is
taking a remedial math course at a community college. An
asthma sufferer, she missed school frequently as a child and fell
behind. When a math test was announced, she just skipped
classes the day of the test. 'n seventh grade she became pregnant
and transferred to a continuation school, but at no point did she
ever receive the help she needed to catch up. Now she is ready to
start life and math afresh.
Alva is an inspiring elementary school teacher in New York
City. Her sixth-grade students write plays on current subjects,
which they perform for the whole school . At a City Council hear
ing on South Africa, Alva's class dramatized the horrors of apart
heid, contributing to the passage of an anti-apartheid law. But
Alva is so terrifed of mathematics that she refuses to teach the
subject.
1 2
WH O'S AF RAI D OF MAT H ?
Numbers and Numerals
Numbers are everywhere. It would be difficult to imag
ine our world without numbers. It was the invention in
ancient India of base-ten positional notation along with
the ten digits-O, I , 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9-that made
possible our facility with numbers. By arranging the dig
its in specific ways, and including a decimal point (or a
comma in some cultures), we can represent any number.
Each position in this arrangement has a value that is ten
times the value of the position to the right of it.
Centuries elapsed before this efficient notation, spread
by Arab and north African scholars and traders, was ac
cepted in Europe as a replacement for Roman numerals.
Eventually computation with these Indo-Arabic numer
als won out over the old counting boards. In those days
only the most leared people could cope with computa
tional methods that we now expect elementary school
children to master!
Example: The number 306.04 is written in a modern
form of Indo-Arabic notation. This is a shorthand way to
express:
(3 x 100) + (0 x 10) + (6 x I) + (0 x 0.1) + (4 x 0.01)
Here is another way to write the expression, using expo
nents to show powers of ten:
(3 x 10') (0 x 10') + (6 x 1(0) + (0 x 10-') + (4 " 10-2)
Now imagine how you might multiply 306.04 by 27.9
using Roman numerals!
My fear started in ffth grade. The teacher, a nun, would
send me to the board to do math exercises. Meanwhile
she would be looking at her watch and timing me: "Ev
ery second tha t you take comes off the boys' gym pe
riod." The boys would call out to me to hurry, and my
friend would try to give me the answers without letting
the teacher fnd out, but that didn't help, because I
couldn't make out what she was whispering. I was the
1 3
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MATH?
only black child in the class, and that may have been the
reason for this treatment. I never told my parents how I
was being treated.
In college I had to take just one math course-algebra.
I took it in summer school to get it over with, and there
wasn't time to learn much. I was not required to take
any math courses for teachers.
I have taken some math workshops since, but I can't
get over my fears. My husband says that math is just
logic and common sense-"!t's simple! " But not for me!
This year I have the brightest sixth grade class. I don't
want to mislead them, so I have arranged for my col
league to teach my class math several times a week,
while I take over her class for another subject. That
works out well.
Unfortunately, this exchange arrangement did not last beyond
one academic year, and Alva had to fnd other ways to solve her
problem.
For Yvonne, too, the fear started in ffth grade with a teacher
who made math "hateful. " Math continued to be hateful for her
through graduation from a community college and remedial
math at a four-year college. But she persists: "I intend to con
quer this fear and move onwards to trigonometry. "
I met Isadoro (age 50) at a local school . He had arrived from
Cuba at the age of 6, and entered school knowing no English. He
can still recall the misery of his frst few years in elementary
school; too scared to talk, he was rated poor in both reading and
math. When his fourth-grade teacher slapped him for not doing
his work, he was convinced that he was hopelessly stupid. His
college experience consisted of a few courses here and a few
courses there. After failing algebra several times, he enrolled in
a class that dealt with his math fears and discovered that he
could handle math concepts quite well. Finally, at the age of 38,
he earned his bachelor's degree. Now Isadoro teaches math and
science to middle-grade bilingual students and is quite conf
dent about his ability to put across the important concepts. He
impressed me as a very empathetic teacher.
As a graduate student in wildlife biology at a California uni
versity, Diana (age 27) fnds now that she needs the mathematics
she had been avoiding all her life. The degree of her avoidance
1 4
WH O'S AF RAI D OF MAT H ?
depended mainly upon the attitude of her instructors after an
unsympathetic third-grade teacher had triggered her fears. Now
she is coping with the statistics and calculus required for her
career. She attributes her current success to the sympathetic
approach of the instructors in her "Math Anxiety" class and cal
culus workshop. Much to her surprise, she discovered that she
could do math when she tried. She realizes, as do many others,
that her feeling of inadequacy was due to avoidance, rather than
to incompetence.
Many institutions now offer summer "bridge" programs to
help students to make the transition from high school to college
and to enable them to make up some of their defciencies. Tomas
(age 17) was taking pre-algebra in a California college bridge
program when he wrote his math autobiography. Typically, his
fear of math had started in fourth grade, and by junior high
school he "hated math with a passion." His fnal paragraph ex
presses his conflicts: "I personally feel 1 can't overcome my fear
or dislike for math for the reasons that math is just getting
harder and more confusing. I'm afraid of i t. It doesn't bother me,
though. I'll get by somehow."
Is this a case of male bravado, an unwillingness to face the
issues squarely and admit that he is bothered? One would hope
that Tomas will fnd in college the kind of sympathetic instruc
tors who have helped other victims of fear of math to overcome
their dislike and feelings of inadequacy.
Are elementary school teachers really as cruel and lacking in
understanding as portrayed in some of these case studies? Proba
bly most of these teachers would be shocked to learn how their
former students viewed them, when they were just trying to do
their job! Faced with the task of inculcating the prescribed
mathematical skills, and called to account when their charges
did not measure up to certain standards, they did their best.
Many elementary school teachers are like Alva, aware of their
fears and their poor mathematical background, but unable to
arrange her intelligent solution to the problem.
Contrast Alva's experience with that of June (age 41 ) , now in
the third year of an undergraduate program for future elemen
tary school teachers.
I struggled with algebra and failed geometry. In 10th
grade 1 had one of the most frightening teachers I've ever
1 5
WH O'S AF RAI D OF MATH?
had. When I went to him after school seeking help he
yelled at me and threw the answer book at me. That was
my last high school math experience. I felt that I was
incredibly dumb . . . . During my junior year [in college)
I took Elementary Math Methods . . . and have learned
how to make math (learning) a wonderful experience for
children.
Parents, too, can steer their children in the wrong direction.
They may have been influenced by the stereotype that girls are
not capable of doing math, or they may believe that women's
careers do not require a knowledge of mathematics. This was
true in the case of Lucille (age 27). When she did poorly in junior
high school math, her father consoled her by saying: "It's OK if
you don't take math. I never liked math. You don't really need
it. " This turned out to be the wrong advice. As a photography
instructor she defnitely does need math. She feels inadequate
when she is called upon to explain the technical aspects of photo
graphic processes, and is thinking about going to a math clinic
for help.
How many times have my students told me: "I really did under
stand that topic, but I just froze on the test! I couldn't remember
a thing. " Yes, taking a test can be very stressful, and particularly
so when the material is only poorly understood, or merely memo
rized rather than understood. Terry (age 1 7), a frst-year college
student, wrote: "I feel that the reason why I didn't like math is
because I didn't do well because I just plain didn't understand
it. Why? I really don't know why. I guess because I didn't take an
interest in it because I didn't understand. It was a vicious circle
that I went through with math. And when I did understand, I
would freeze on a test and almost forget everything. I don't think
I will ever be good or even like math but I have a positive atti
tude that I will learn i t. "
For Tomi (age 21 ) test taking is a painful experience. Her
previous calculus teacher had "let us retake the tests and gave
take-home exams. By this time I felt I really knew the material. "
But the following semester she was doing poorly. "I don't think
I'm stupid but due to lack of time on going over certain subjects
the material just isn't sinking in like i t did last term. I wish we
could rework our tests. It would make such a difference in
1 6
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MAT H ?
whether or not the material gets learned and stays with a per
son. 1 just seem to blank out on the frst part of the test. Midway
through 1 start to loosen up and get rolling. I've always done
better when I've had more time to take a test."
Alberta (age 20) was disheartened when she was placed in a
developmental (remedial) math class in college, since she be
lieved her real problem was fear of taking tests. She did well
enough to enroll i n college algebra the following semester. Unfor
tunately the instructor was not very helpful. " I signed up for
tutoring because we began word problems-'The Big Chi l l . ' The
tutor that 1 had made me feel dumb, so 1 never returned. She
expected me to know certain things but 1 just got discouraged,
so 1 ended up failing the course. 1 tried to take the class again,
but the fear of failing the class caused me to withdraw." Alberta
is insightful about the way mathematics is taught. She had
started to feel uncomfortable with math during her high school
years, and with good reason. " I don't think that math should be
just given to you from the a book," she wrote. "Math should be
related to other subjects and to life situations." 1 agree with her
wholeheartedly!
The message in many of the math autobiographies is that
everyone can learn math, in spite of a poor start in the early
grades, or failing grades of high school , or poor teachers along
the way.
Tammy (age 1 8), in her frst year at college, wrote: " I love
math. 1 didn't learn i t in high school . 1 learned it later in college.
1 think it's a great subject. "
Vera (age 19) had a similar experience. "By my second quar
ter in high school, 1 had started to develop a dislike of math.
During my senior year 1 had a teacher with a negative attitude
who helped to reinforce my own negative attitude toward math.
When 1 came to college, 1 had a very supportive class and
teacher. Both the teacher and my classmates helped me to de
velop a more positive outlook toward math. Now, math isn't so
bad."
Some people are not as fortunate as Vera and Tammy, but
they stick to it and are determined to overcome their diffculties.
The transition from schooling in another country to college in
the United States can be a painful experience. Pamela (age 44) is
a good example. Coming from Jamaica, with a limited back
ground in mathematics, she said: " Most times it seems like a
1 7
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MAT H ?
foreign language to me. But I have a great desire to master this
subject."
Deepak (age 23), a recent arrival from Bahrain, wrote: "Cal
culus was a terrible experience for me since there were lots of
things I did not have prerequisites for. My fear was overcome
when I passed Calculus I. It required lots of concentration and
practice."
Rahmon (age 19), also a recent arrival to the United States,
had been unable to cope with the unpleasantly strict high school
mathematics teacher in his Asian homeland. Although he did
fairly well in his frst college calculus class, he was jealous of his
friends who earned A's, "but I can't do anything. That becomes
my nightmare. Sometimes I talk to myself: 'It is very peaceful if
there is no math in this world: I know that is very silly, but that's
all what I feel. " Now he is beginning to overcome these feelings of
inadequacy. ''I'm trying to learn to like math by studying it very
relaxed. I'm not trying to memorize all problems, because math
can't be understood by memorizing, but by understanding and
trying to do the problems; and it really works. I got a good score
for my frst test. It was an amazing thing in my life."
Age is not a drawback, and may even be an advantage, as
Rose will testify. The mother of twelve children, she decided at
the age of ffty-six to go to college and take basic math. Although
she fnds the work hard, and her children tease her, she is perse
vering. " I was too embarrassed to ask questions when I was
young. Age does make a difference."
Many galleries and institutions display the fne bronze
sculptures by Judith Weller (age 54). Most notable is the GOr
ment Worker at the Sewing Machine, set on the pavement in the
heart of the New York City garment district. Judith recalls her
high school math teacher in Israel as a tyrant whom the stu
dents loathed. Her father, a tailor and the model for her sculp
ture, relied on Judith to deliver the garments to his customers,
resulting in her occasional lateness to math class. The teacher
shamed her before the class and maligned her to other teach
ers. The effect on her work in mathematics was disastrous.
About two years before our interview, Judith thought she
might go for a graduate degree in architecture, and she enrolled,
with trepidation, in an algebra course. "I loved it! I fnally saw
what I had missed. This teacher was very sweet and gentle. He
respected the students. He respected all their questions, al-
1 8
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MAT H ?
though some students had been away from school for many
years. I was so surprised that I enjoyed the course. At best I
thought I would tolerate i t. " Judith took the Graduate Record
Exam and did well in the mathematics section.'
Florence was one of the oldest respondents to my call for
math autobiographies. At the age of ffty-nine she was about to
receive her Bachelor of Arts degree. She recalled her anxiety
about math in elementary school, and her experience with high
school math was even more discouraging. More than thirty
years later she had the opportunity to attend college:
I entered it with no reservations, psyched myself up
when it came to take the remedial math course I needed
to enter into other courses required for a B.A. degree. At
this time I fel t very good for I like challenges and math
would be mine once more.
I had to repeat the remedial several times. It hurt, but
every time I left I knew more than when I had started.
Slowly but surely it came to me. Math has been a prob
lem to me, but I know that if I try and try I always learn
some of it. Since I am a working person, married and
attending college at night, I know that I do the best that I
can, and have to accept the outcome.
A common thread runs through most of the autobiographies.
These victims feel powerless, out of control, lacking in self
esteem. Many people manage to conceal their negative feelings
about math until they are confronted with a situation that forces
them to "come out of the closet. " Frequently the new element in
their lives is enrollment in college, whether after a lengthy ab
sence from academic life or immediately after high school grad
uation. Having avoided math successfully, perhaps for years,
they suddenly fnd themselves faCing a mathematics qualifying
test or a required statistics course. Consequently colleges must
not only offer the remediation that these people should have
received much earlier, but must also help the victims of fear of
math to overcome their anxieties about the subject.
One might suppose that students at selective Ivy League
colleges would be exempt from such diffculties. Not at all!
Professor Deborah Hughes Hallett initiated a remediation
course at Harvard University for students "who have trouble
' 9
WH O'S AF R AI D OF MAT H ?
with decimals, and who fnd I.c.d.'s [lowest common denomina
tors] impossibly mysterious, and who drop minus signs and
parentheses as though they were going out of style, and who
freeze at the very thought of a word problem." Although these
students have taken algebra and other high school math
courses, they passed by memorizing rather than by understand
ing the content. But, as Hallett asserts, "People forget what
they've memorized as soon as possible." Furthermore, "It con
tributes greatly to one's fear of a subject to know that you don't
understand what you're doing."
Hallett and her associates fnd that their attitude to the stu
dents matters more than their teaching methodology. "They
learn far more from our faith that they can and will learn mathe
matics than from our most lucid explanations or most brilliant
innovations . . . . I think you can always learn math-it may take
time, work, and energy, but it always can be done.'
You might want to counter Hallett's confdent assertion by
saying: "It may be true that all Harvard students can learn math
eventually, but that doesn't go for an ordinary person like me."
That's not true. Everyone really can learn math. I had the
pleasure of visiting classes in Project Bridge at Laney College in
Oakland, California. This program is designed to prepare people
with minimal skills (ffth-grade level) for regular college work or
vocational training. The students, many of them high school
dropouts, range in age from the late teens to the sixties, al
though a majority are African-American and Latina women in
their twenties and thirties. Students in the program are active
participants in their own learning and they really care that their
fellow students learn as well.
In one class the students were learning about the lowest
common denominator, just as the Harvard students had done.
First the instructor worked some examples on the chalkboard,
while the class participated with suggestions and questions.
Then a young woman volunteered to do a problem at the board.
As she proceeded, it became obvious that her motive in volun
teering was not to show that she knew the procedure perfectly,
but rather to work through a diffcult situation with the support
of the other students. When she fnally arrived at the solution,
she beamed with delight and took a bow, while the class cheered
and applauded. Such warmth and appreciation would draw out
the most reticent person!
2 0
WH O'S A F RAI D O F MAT H ?
School math as you have probably experienced i t is responsible
for an unrealistic view of what math is all about. Some common
misconceptions are:
Math is mainly arithmetic, working with numbers. If you
are not good in arithmetic-for example, you haven't memo
rized the multiplication tables-you can't learn "higher
level" math, like algebra and calculus.
Math involves a lot of memorization of facts, rules, formulas,
and procedures.
You must follow the procedures set down by the teacher and
the textbook.
Math must be done fast. If you can't solve a problem in a few
minutes, you might as well give up.
Every problem has just one right answer, and it must be exact.
You must never count on your fngers or use hands-on materi
als to help you solve a problem.
You must work on math alone. Working with other people is
cheating.
You must keep at it until you have solved the problem.
Math is hard. Only a genius or a "math-brain" can under
stand it.
Math language is unrelated to ordinary everyday language.
Math is rigid, uncreative, cut-and-dried, complete. It doesn't
involve imagination, discovery, invention. There is nothing
new in math.
Math is exact, logical, and certain. Intuition doesn't enter
into it.
Math is abstract. It is unrelated to history or culture.
Math is value-free. It's the same for everyone all over the
world.
This book will offer counterexamples to each of these miscon
ceptions. You can fnd many more in the books and articles
listed in the reference notes and the bibliography.
With this book I hope to achieve the following goals:
First., to give you reasons for overcoming your phobias about
mathematics. Why bother learning math? Why not let well
enough alone? Who needs math, anyhow? The answer is: Every
body needs math! Why? That is the theme of chapter 2.
2 1
WH O'S AF RAI D OF MATH?
Manipulating Math
The more ways you deal with a concept, the better your
understanding. Working with concrete materials, called
manipulatives, can often clarify confsing concepts. Ma
nipulatives, such as Base Ten Materials, also afford the
opportunity to experiment and discover new ideas.
Base Ten Materials include:
o
small squares, representing Orles, and often called
"units";
Strips of ten small squares, representing tens, and
often called "longs";
Large squares measuring ten units along the edge,
representing hundreds, and often called "flats."
Base Ten materials may be purchased commercially or
made at home of stiff paper or plastic sheets. They are
useful for all types of number work because they embody
OUI base-ten numeration system.
(Continued)
Z Z
WH O'S AF R AI D OF MAT H ?
Manipulating Math (contnued)
Example: Find the product of 1 2 and 1 3 .
Procedure: Construct a rectangle that measures 1 2 units
on one side and 1 3 units on the adjoining side. using as
few pieces as possible. Start with the largest piece. the
flat. Then add as many longs as you can ft into the
rectangle. Fill in the remaining spaces with units.
l OO | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
Now fgure out the total value of the pieces in the
rectangle:
I flat 100
(2 + 3) longs " 5 ? 10 " 50
(2 ` 3) uni ts 6 ` 1 6
Sum
1 56
Compare this method with the pencil-and-paper proce
dure. step by step. You have also found that the area of a
1 2 x 1 3 rectangle is 1 56 square units.
2 3
WH O'S AF RAI D OF MAT H ?
Second, to help you see through the myths about who can
and who cannot learn math. But-you might be thinking-what
i f ! just don't have what it takes? Don't you have to be a genius to
do math? Some people say that girls are not capable, that blacks
are not capable, that Latinos are not capable of doing math.
Don't believe such myths. The false theories that give rise to
these myths will be treated in chapter 3.
Third, t o understand how parents, friends, teachers, and the
larger society may have been guilty, perhaps not intentionally, of
steering you in the wrong direction, away from the kind of intel
lectual work that can make your life richer and more fulflling.
Chapter 4 will deal with these issues.
Does the school system really give everyone an equal oppor
tunity, regardless of gender, race, language spoken at home, or
social class? Of course not, and that disparity is a source of math
fear and avoidance. Math classes are conducted differently for
different groups, starting from the earliest grades. Moreover,
school math, for the most part, is not real math. Dr. Hassler
Whitney, one of the foremost mathematicians of the twentieth
century, would say to mathephobes: "You never had a chance to
see or do real math, which is easy and fun." Every society has
developed mathematical ideas and practices, yet these ideas and
practices are generally excluded from the school curriculum. I
will discuss these issues in chapters 5 and 6.
Chapter 7 is designed to help you to help yourself-strategies
to overcome fear and avoidance of math. You probably know
more mathematics than you think, and you must give yourself
credit for this knowledge. You will learn some techniques to re
duce math anxiety and how to accommodate your unique learn
ing style to the material to be mastered.
As a parent, a teacher, an employer, or a friend to young
people, your ability to overcome your own fears and improve
your skills will also help you impart to children a love of mathe
matics and self-confdence in their ability to do math. Chapter 8
is intended to help you do that.
Lastly, chapter 9 is a call for a more humane mathematics,
the kind of math that will serve all people.
Interspersed throughout the book are real-world problems
for you to think about as you read, or to come back to later.
Does it matter whether I get a raise or a bonus? Can all chil
dren be " above average" achievers? How likely is it that a
2 4
WH O'S A F RAI D OF MAT H ?
single woman over age 30 will eventually marry? Are men or
women doing better in the campaign against smoking? What
percentage of the federal budget is actually used for military
purposes? The examples, covering a wide range of topics and of
levels of diffculty, should help you to understand the math that
you encounter every day as a citizen of this planet.
Cornell University professor David Henderson has these en
couraging words to light your way:
I believe that mathematics can be a part of every per
son's understanding and can have an important role in
the liberation of human beings. I defne l iberation as the
removal of all barriers to a person's creativity . . . . Every
person who needs some part of mathematics in order to
understand some aspect of their experience can grasp
that part of mathematics in a very short time. All that is
needed is confdence in their thinking and in their percep
tion. This assumption applies, I believe, regardless of the
person's mathematical background . . . I am certain that
as women, and members of the working class and other
cultures participate more and more in the established
mathematics, our societal conception of mathematics
will change and our ways of perceiving our universe will
expand. This will be liberating to us all.'
2 5
CHAP TER T WO

Wo Need Math?
Everbody!
My frst job was as a junior secretary at Wayne State Univer
sity in Detroit, Michigan. They told me they almost didn't hire
me because I'd scored so porly on the math portion of the pre
employment test. My verbal scores were so high they decided
to risk it.
After one semester on the job . . . I decided to apply for admis
sion as a night student. Because I'd had no math or science in
high school, I was asked to take an admissions test. Because of
my scores (high verbal/low mathematics), they admitted me on
probation. I'd have to maintain a C or better average or lose the
privilege of attending.
[Many years later] something happened at the checkout
counter of the grocery store. The bill seemed too high, but I
was afraid to question for fear of being wrong and, therefore,
humiliated. When I got home, I checked each item against the
cash receipt and discovered I'd been charged $1 2 for three
quarts of milk. I had to make a special trip back to the grocery
store. Enough was enough. I had to change.
-Mar Jo Cittadino, Mathematics Educator,
EQUALS, University o(Cali(omia at Berkeley
Opportunity is knocking at the door. Future job prospects look
brighter than i n the past for women and people of color, the very
groups that have until recently been excluded from many well
paid careers. The forecasters tell us that by the year 2000, about
85 percent of the new entrants to the work force will be women
and members of "minority" groups. In a speech calling on busi
ness leaders to contribute to the training of young people of
color, New York Governor Mario Cuomo said, in what seems to
be a contradiction in terms: ''The majority of the work force i n
this country i n the twenty-frst century i s going to be minority."1
At the same time there will be a greater demand for workers
with a high level of skills-scientists and engineers, teachers
2 6
WH O N E EDS MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY I
and managers. No longer will a high school diploma serve as
entry to most jobs. Advances in technology will require well
educated workers, people who can adapt to new conditions. It is
estimated that, with the rapid changes in the nature of employ
ment, young people today can look forward to as many as fve
different careers in their lifetimes.
Pat Dicmintion
Until recent times, only an elite class of people, mainly white
middle- and upper-class males, required more than a minimal
mathematical background for their jobs and careers. Barriers of
race, ethnicity, and gender excluded many qualifed people from
math-related professions, as I know from my own experience. I
had earned a master's degree in actuarial science, the mathemat
ics of insurance, and had passed several of the actuarial exams
while still a student. I soon discovered that the feld was com
pletely closed to women and that there was exactly one em
ployed Jewish actuary in the entire United States. Since I was
both female and a Jew, my education and achievements in actu
arial science seemed to have been wasted. After the Second
World War this type of discrimination lessened, and I began to
receive job offers from various parts of the country. By that time
I had a family and was no longer i n a position to accept these
attractive offers.
In 1949 Evelyn Boyd Granville was one of the frst two
African-American women to earn a doctorate in mathematics.
After graduation from Smith College with highest honors, she
was awarded a fellowship to Yale University, where she studied
with a renowned mathematician. Nevertheless, her application
to teach in a New York college was greeted with laughter. The
students at Fisk University, a historically black institution, were
the fortunate recipients of her wisdom. Later she spent sixteen
years in applied mathematics for the government and private
industry, where she used her supurb talents to contribute to the
"space race."z
Discrimination in higher education was blatant. My hus
band was teaching electronics at a two-year college in the
1 950s. As part of the job, the department faculty members were
required to interview applicants who planned to major i n elec
tronics. The chairman had directed the instructors to mark the
2 7
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YBODY I
application forms of all black applicants, with a view to bar
ring them from admission. "They won't get jobs in the feld, so
why disappoint them?" was his lame excuse. Other members of
the department refused, citing both the illegality and the immo
rality of such an action, and forced the chairman to withdraw
his racist directive. No doubt, many people were reluctant even
to apply for such programs for fear that they would not fnd
employment afterward.
The civil rights and women's movements of the sixties and
seventies were instrumental in securing passage of legislation to
lessen the inequi ties in employment for women and people of
color. Affrmative action programs have resulted in important
gains for these groups. In the period from 1973 to 1 980, for
example, female employment in the work forces of government
contractors grew at a rate seven times that of nongoverment
contractors, who were not subject to regulation, while the rate
of increase for minorities was almost double. Moreover, many
more low-skilled females and minorities who worked for govern
ment contractors moved up to high-skilled and white-collar
jobs. as compared with workers for nongovernment contrac
tors.' In the 1 980s, however, many of the programs were phased
out or weakened, due to cuts in federal funding and to lack of
enforcement of equity laws. Today, in the 1 990s, the situation is
different. The employment of women and people of color is no
longer viewed merely as an issue of fairness and social responsi
bility. Now it is a matter of national survival. Our economy
needs them!
T Ne for Mathematics in Tody's Worl
The economy of the United States has changed drastically
within the past few decades. There has been enormous growth in
communications and fnance, while manufacturing jobs have
gone abroad or have been restructured to require higher-level
skills on the part of the workers. With advances in technology
occurring frequently, people will have to learn to work smarter,
rather than faster, than in the past. Increasingly the jobs in to
morrow's economy will require a knowledge of mathematics.
New technologies will call for the ability to apply mathematics
and science in practical ways, and rapid changes will demand
2 8
WH O N E EDS MAT H ? E VE RY B ODY !
Women and Minorities Use Statistics to Win
Their Case
Knowing the numbers helped women and members of
minority groups to win a bias suit against a Chicago
bank. In January 1 989 the bank was ordered to pay $1 4
million to settle a case charging that i t had discrimi
nated against women and minority group members in
its hiring and promotion policies. Statistical evidence
was crucial in winning the largest monetary settlement
in a bias case to date. The case had been initiated in 1974
by the organization Women Employed. The U.S. Labor
Department had brought sui I on the basis of a federal
antidiscrimination order. (New York Times, 1 1 January
1989, Al .l
that workers learn new skills throughout their lives. In other
words, lifelong learning will be the pattern of the future.
In the old days, blue-collar workers stood at an assembly
line or a machine and performed the same few operations over
and over again. Little formal education was required for this
kind of job. With strong unions to back them up, these workers
could earn adequate salaries.
But new blue-collar jobs are becoming rare. A recent test for
sanitation workers in New York City brought 1 01 ,000 applica
tions for the expected 2,000 openings over a four-year period.'
Although a high school diploma is not required, the test in
cluded such mathematical skills as "recognizing how an object
will look when it is moved around or when its parts are moved
or rearranged; applying general rules to specifc problems to
arrive at a logical answer; adding, subtracting, multiplying and
dividing numbers.'"
Many blue-collar and clerical workers are now being dis
placed by high-tech machines. According to Ronald E. Kutscher,
associate commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "People
who have less than high school education are in a diffcult posi
tion whether they're blue collar or white collar. They have higher
2 9
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE RYBODY
A Bonus or a Raise?
Which is better for a working person, a bonus or a raise?
Many businesses have been giving their workers bonuses
based on profts, rather than a percentage raise in wages.
In 1 988 Chrysler workers felt compelled to accept a 3
percent annual bonus, while the expiring contract had
provided for a 3 percent annual wage increase (N York
Times, 10 May 1 988, AI ). Even when the bonus represents
a larger percentage than the wage increase, workers usu
ally lose out in the end. Why is this so?
Let's work it out both ways for a period of three years.
Assume that the worker received $28,000 in wages in
1988.
Bonus method: For three years the worker receives
$28,000 annually plus a bonus of 3 percent of $28,000,
or $840. For the period 1989 through 1991 he will earn
(3
" $28,840), a total of $86,520.
Percentage increase method: In 1989 the worker receives
$28,840. In 1990 her increase is 3 percent of $28,840, or
$865, making a total of $29,705. In 1991 her raise is 3
percen t of $29,705, or $891 , for a total of $30,596. The
three-year total is $89, 1 41 . This sum is $2,621 more
than she would have earned with a bonus.
But there is more to the story. Benefts like vacation
pay, overtime, severance pay, and some pensions are
based on the wage rate for each year. A larger base
wage means larger benefts. It all adds up.
It really pays to know your math, provided that you
and your fellow workers have the clout to achieve your
demands.
unemployment rates and they have more trouble fnding a
job . . . . The more resources one brings to the job market, the
greater one's ability to rebound. Education is one of those
resources."
6
Workers in the new type of " informated" factory are ex-
3 0
WH O N E EDS MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY I
pected to take full responsibility for computerized equipment
and robots, to make their own decisions about production and
scheduling, and to be able to track problems. Looking at the
Japanese success in manufacturing, experts in the United States
found that many of the Japanese who work directly with auto
mated machines have advanced college degrees. This is the
trend in the factory of the future-fewer low-skilled laborers
and more engineers, scientists, and technicians with solid mathe
matical backgrounds.' Many corporations are instituting their
own training programs to upgrade their workers' skills.
Of course, not every job requires specifc mathematical
skills. But it certainly helps to have some facility with math and
some confdence in your ability to handle problems as they
arise. Entry tests and civil service exams for many jobs, like that
forsanitation worker, usually include questions involving mathe
matics. The employer or agency may justify this practice by
claiming that such questions reveal whether the applicant is
capable of coping with new situations. More likely, these tests
serve as flters to keep out applicants with inadequate educa
tional backgrounds or poor skills in test taking.
The greatest growth industry, say the fturists, will be infor
mation processing, and computers will play a major role. Al
ready computer skills are necessary for many types of offce
work and business management positions-you must know a
spreadsheet from a bedsheet!-and workers are expected to be
familiar with complex information-processing systems. In fact,
if the computers were to break down, operations in the world
of commerce, fnance. insurance, and communications would
come to a standstill.
It is not only business that requires a knowledge of comput
ers. The computer has also invaded the felds of health care,
music, theater, fne arts, and many others. At many art schools,
for example, students learn to use the computer in their design
classes, with additional applications to the areas of sculpture,
ceramics, photography, interior design, and printmaking. Not
that technology is replacing artists in the creative process. The
computer is a "tool, a flexible and pliable tool, not meant to
replace the artist with technology.'"
Eleanor (age 30+) was my instructor in a course in the tie
dyeing of fabrics. An innovative artist, she fnds that math, phys
ics, and chemistry are absolutely essential to her work. Luckily
3 1
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY I
she has always enjoyed these subjects and, even more essential,
has confdence in her ability. One of her art projects involved
setting up a tremendous tent. Without her working knowledge of
dynamics and the properties of various materials, the tent might
have been blown away by the wind. In order to dye textiles she
must understand chemistry and be able to calculate appropriate
times and temperatures. Of course, geometry also plays an im
portant role in her art.
Vicki (age 37), struggling with her third semester of calculus
for a master's degree in architecture, had taken very little mathe
matics for her college major in anthropology. "When I decided to
change felds and attempt architecture, I knew that I would be
taking more math." Up to that point Vicki had felt that math was
"irrelevant to my life and interests. I do not feel that way now, and
wish that I hadn't been so blind earlier, either to the nature of
mathematics or to the real nature of my own interests."
Both Olav (age 32), a professional bicycle racer, and Tony
(age 28), a construction worker, are studying mathematics at a
community college wi th the goal of changing their careers. Tony
is taking geometry and algebra to regain his mathematical skills
in preparation for a degree in engineering. It wasn't until he
started working that he found mathematics to be useful. He
advises that "real world applications and examples are a must
for all math classes."
Herbert, too, needed to change his job, but not for the usual
reasons. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and their
application to an adoption agency had been turned down be
cause their income was too low. In a later chapter we will come
back to Herbert and learn how he was helped to prepare for a
new career by overcoming his frustration with learning math.'
Changes in the economy and in their fnancial responsibili
ties motivate many people to plan new careers. In fact, they are
returning to school in such numbers that two out of fve college
students in 1 988 were adults over the age of 25. Many more study
outside of schools. According to the National Research Coun
cil report Everbody Counts: "Almost as many persons study
mathematics outside traditional school structures as inside
them . . . . Today much mathematics is studied by older adults.
Some large businesses actually operate mini-school districts
just for the continuing education of employees; many universi
ties and colleges-especially community colleges-attract large
3 2
WH O N E EDS MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY I
Household Income: Looking behind
the Statistics
More women have been entering the work force in recent
years. In the late 1 970s half of mothers with children
under the age of eighteen were working. By 1990 the
number had increased to two out of three. Many women
with husbands in the labor force fnd that they, too, must
work to keep their families afloat. Out of every ten
women with husbands present, four were working in
1970, fve in 1980, and six in 1990. How has women's
participation affected household income, the income of
all persons living in one household?
I did some fguring, with the help of my almanac and
my calculator, and listed the numbers in a table:
Year
1970
1980
1 990
Household Income In the United States
Current dollars
$ 9,867
21 ,023
33,956
CPI
38.8
82.4
1 30.7
Adjusted dollars
$25,430
25,51 3
25,980
Here is the explanation of the fgures in each column:
Current dollars: The average household income for each
year in actual dollars.
CP (Consumer Price Index): The cost of living for that
year as compared with the cost of living for the base
year 1983. For further discussion of the CPI, see " Infla
tion: Your Shrinking Dollar" (page 40).
Adiusted dollars: Divide Current Dollars by CPI for each
year and multiply the answer by 100. These fgures
represent real income.
The numbers in the last column are almost identical
for each year: 1970, 1 980, and 1 990. The American fam
ily had to run like hell just to stay in one place, even with
more wives going to work. To make matters worse, the
adjusted income for 1991 was even lower than the 1990
fgure, and was less than the income for 1 979, according
to the New York Times (4 September 1 992, AI ).
3 3
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY !
numbers of adults both to regular degree programs and to special
short courses for professional growth or cultural enrichment. "
i
O
More women are now entering the work force than ever be
fore, usually out of economic necessity rather than choice. Tradi
tional women's jobs and low wages go together. To better their
position, women would do well to take advantage of the opportu
nities opening up i n nontraditional felds, a preparation that
often involves knowledge of mathematics and computers.
Both for young people just entering higher education and for
adults contemplating a change of career, it often comes as a
surprise that they need mathematics. "Why must 1 take math to
be a social worker?" -or a nurse or a psychologist? But these
"helping professions" now have specifc requirements for courses
in algebra, statistics, computer applications, and more. Florence
Nightingale, the woman who established nursing as a profession
in the mid-nineteenth century, also developed statistical tech
niques that she used to convince her government to appropriate
money to reduce the number of deaths by improving conditions
in hospitals.
Mary (age 34) met her nemesis in a required course in statis
tics. A college honor student, she had planned to become a psy
chologist, but after twice failing statistics, she changed her major
to social work. She had hated and feared high school math and
consequently had taken no more than the courses required for an
academic diploma. " Math still makes me feel dumb," she wrote in
her autobiography. "1 won't do our taxes or balance a check book,
but now [ teach people how to do budgets, and that feels OK." Ap
parently Mary acquired the skills necessary to handle the mathe
matics required by her job as directorof a funding agency, but not
the self-confdence to overcome her old fears and aversions.
Lori (age 46) had studied the usual high school math. She
had earned an A in algebra but couldn't see how geometry
would relate to her life as a female. She went on to teach English
and business subjects. "[ had no fear of math except statistics in
college at the master's degree leve!. 1 had heard it was a diffcult
course and feared it. [ came out OK, but felt [ needed a better
background at earlier stages in schoo!. "
On the other hand, for Esther (age 32) the required college
statistics was the frst mathematics course that she really en
joyed. Not only was i t relevant to her major in sociology, but
she felt that she really understood underlying mathematical
3 4
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YBO D Y I
Men's and Women's Earngs:
Loking behind the Statistics
We know that women earn far less than men, even when
they are doing the same job. For a long time, until about
1 981 , women who worked full time were earning be
tween 57 and 60 to a man's dollar. The good news is
that after 1981 the difference grew smaller, reaching a
high of 7 1 to a man's dollar in 1990.
Now comes the bad news. While women's earnings re
mained constant in the late 1 980s, men's income was actu
ally falling and had been falling for some time. Women
gained only in relation to men's declining earnings, but
(Continued)
_ Women
g Men
.,,
sc
-
io.oo

V7_
|

c
2D, OOO '-
>
.
t
15,000 N
c

0000
D, 00
0
N
-
t
Mgh
bchuu
Lucgc
1-3 YcaM
Lucgc
4 YcaM
Education Pays Of Earnings of Year-Round Workers, 1989
(persons 25 years and over)
SOURCE: Department of Commerce
,
Bureau of the Census.
3 5
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R Y B OD Y !
Men's and Women's Earings:
Loking behind the Statistics (contnued)
not in absolute terms. Besides, factors such as the in
crease in male unemployment were not taken into con
sideration. Level of education made a great difference in
the earnings of both men and women, as the graph
shows. (U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the
Census, 26 September 1991 .)
concepts for the frst time. As a hospital administrator, she also
makes practical use of her statistical knowledge.
The experience of Janine (age 50) is heartening. When she
was growing up in Tennessee, it was taken for granted that, as a
woman, she needed no secondary-level math. Now a widow, she
is enrolled in an Early Childhood Education program at a com
munity college. "I raised four children and helped with three
grandchildren. I might just as well use that experience in my
career. " The refresher math courses she has taken have helped
her to feel independent. " I can handle my own bankbook! " she
exclaimed with pride.
Ginny (age 21 ) was about to enter medical school when she
wrote in her autobiography: "Math was not a subject that I
enjoyed; rather, I realized that it was a necessity in my educa
tion. Additionally, math is challenging, and I enjoy taking on
diffcult tasks . . . . I am looking forward to taking computer sci
ence courses to keep me in touch with the changing mathemati
cal society." And, she might have added, with the growth in
computer applications in the feld of medicine.
A recent arrival from Taiwan, studying calculus as a frst
year college student, Blossom (age 20) admits that she really
doesn't like math, but "I still have to do it because I have to pass
the exams and I need the grade. " Isn't that the motivation for
many students?
Not so fortunate is Moni (age 18). She felt that she did under
stand high school math, yet she could barely pass a math test. "So
at present I am in the pharmacy curriculum and realize that math
and chemistry, or courses requiring math, are more than required
3 6
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY I
How to Tell the Trth with Statistics
"There are three kinds oflies: lies. damned lies. and statis
tics" is an oft-quoted quip credited to Disraeli. the
nineteenth-century British statesman. On the other hand.
his compatriot H. G. Wells said: "Statistical thinking will
one day be as necessary for effcient citizenship as the
ability to read and write." These two quotations appear
on the frst page of Darrell Huff's popular book, How to
Lie with Statistics.
To these I'll add a third statement, spoken by a member
of the United States Congress. To celebrate the publica
tion of The American Woman 1987-1988, a study com
missioned by the Congressional Caucus for Women's
Issues, Republican Congresswoman Claudine Schneider
declared: "Statistics have to be one of thl tools we use to
change the system. Clearly this book provides us with the
facts. the fgures. the statistics. absolutely everything we
need. " (Barbara Gamarekian. "Status of Women Rises but
Pay Lags, Study Finds," Ne York Times, 22 July 1987, A23.)
of me . . . . But all 1 can do at present is to work hard, again, and try
to continue to excel in this troublesome course of my life. "
Whether or not the major feld of study involves mathemat
ics, most colleges require that students pass a math profciency
examination, a dreaded ordeal for many liberal arts students.
Ken (age 37) is obviously resentful at having to take such a test.
He had already attended college for six years, but was just con
fronting the college math requirement. "I don't feel 1 have any
anxiety toward math. 1 have just found it diffcult and not rele
vant to my life. 1 can't think of any instance in my life when 1
have needed more than 1 already know." 1 suspect that Ken is
expressing a typically male "I don't need it" attitude to cover up
his lack of confdence in his ability to do math.
Diana (age 35) has a more optimistic attitude. She had-taken
only one math course in college, the easiest one she could fnd.
Fifteen years later she returned to school for a degree in journal
ism. To her dismay, she had to take a profciency exam in math.
3 7
WH O N E E D S MATH? E VE RYB OD Y !
Infant Mortality: What's behind the Numbers?
How well does our country take care of its people? One
indicator of a society's general health is the infant mor
tality rate. This rate states the number of infants who die
before the age of one year for every thousand live births.
The infant mortality rate has been decreasing steadily.
By 1 988 it was just under ten deaths for every thousand
live births. Should we be proud of this record? Let's look
more closely at the numbers.
While the overall rate has been falling, the mortality
rate for black babies has not kept pace. In fact, the gap
between whites and blacks has been widening. In 1987
black babies died at the rate of 1 7.9 per thousand live
births, more than twice the white rate of 8.6. One factor
is the failure of many black women to receive prenatal
care in the first three months of pregnancy, generally
because they have no health coverage.
When compared with other countries, the United States
is not doing so well. This rich country ranked behind
twenty-one other nations in 1 988 in the rate at which
infants die. ("Health Data Show Wide Gap between
Whites and Blacks," New York Times, 23 March 1990, AI 7.)
Al though she was still frightened, she was determined to do
well, since "at this point in my life I am no longer content with
math ignorance."
Using mathematics on the job or as preparation for a career
is only one aspect of the influence of mathematics on the way we
live. According to Everbody Counts, the ideas of mathematics
affect us on many different levels, among them the following:
Practical-fguring unit prices in the supermarket, under
standing the effects of i nflation, balancing a bank account, help
ing the kids with their homework. Imagine how proud Janine
felt when she learned to handle her own bankbook! And imagine
how Marlene (age about 45) suffered; she was so frightened of
numbers that she would not even discuss money matters with
her husband, let alone try to balance her checkbook. "
3 8
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE RYB OD Y I
False Positives and the AIDS Virs
The test for the AIDS virus is 96 percent accurate.
Ten thousand people considered to be at risk were
tested for the AIDS virus. John Jones (not his real
name) tested positive on the test and two hours la
ter committed suicide. In the note he said that
since he had a 96/100 chance of having AIDS. he
did not see the sense in going on. His family was
shocked.
This shocking. but true. story was cited by Northeast
ern University professor Margaret Cozzens to illustrate
the effects of mathematical illiteracy. She goes on to
prove mathematically that most of the people who tested
positive in this sample were not infected with the AIDS
virus. Their test results are called " false positives." Only
about one out of ten people who tested positive actually
had the AIDS virus. (Margaret Cozzens. Editorial . Consor
tiul132. Winter 1989.)
John Allen Paulos includes a similar analysis of testing
for cancer in his book Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiter
acy and Its Consequences (page 1 66). He suggests that
many such tests are far from reliable. among them the
Pap test for cervical cancer and lie-detection tests.
Civic-understanding such public policy issues as tax rates.
the education budget. health care. preserving the environment.
and the effect of racism. sexism. and other forms of discrimina
tion. How does the Savings and Loan bailout of the 1 990s affect
my tax bill? What is the meaning of a one-percent rise in the
unemployment rate? which population groups are most af
fected by this increase? Does the published fgure give an accu
rate picture of the true employment situation?
A graph or a table in a newspaper article often tells us as
much in a short space as a whole column of text. Yet many math
fearers pass right over these mathematical representations.
3 9
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY!
Inflation: Your Shrinking Dollar
Inflation means that your dollar is worth less this year
than it was last year. Suppose a half-gallon of milk cost
one dollar in 1983. That half-gallon of milk would have
cost about $1 .35 in March 1 991 , due to inflation, other
factors being equal.
How do I know? Each month goverment economists
fgure out the cost of a typical family's expenses, using
more or less the same items every month. They choose
the cost of living for a certain year, let's say 1 983, as the
base year. Then they compare the cost for each month
with the 1983 cost. Each of these amounts is translated
into a number called an index. The base year index, the
number for 1983 in this case, is set at 100. The cost in
March 1 991 turned out to be 1 35. To use the language of
the economists, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 100
in 1983 and 1 35 in March 1 99 1 .
I found these numbers in my almanac, listed under
"Consumer Price Index." That's how I estimated the rise
in the price of a half-gallon of milk.
Can you guess which items cost the most in March
1 991 , compared with 1983? The three highest items
were: education ( 1 79), medical care ( 1 74), and tobacco
products ( 1 98). Roughly translated into dollars, college
tuition set at $5,000 in 1 983 might have risen to $8,950
by March 1 99 1 .
The CPI provides the basis for adjusting annual Social
Security beneft payments to take account of increases
in the cost of living. The increase is called a Cost of
Living Adjustment (COLA).
convinced that they cannot understand anything involving num
bers. This attitude may be dangerous. These people may be so
awed by numbers that they tend to place their faith in anyone
who uses mathematical arguments, regardless of the validity of
such arguments. Mathematical knowledge helps you to analyze
data and make informed decisions about important issues.
4 0
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE RYB OD Y !
Citizen Monitor the Envirnment
In the summer of 1988 a Washington, D. C. , citizen, a
lawyer by profession, became concerned about the ozone
levels in the area. With the help of his personal computer
he processed information that was readily available to
the public and then drew the appropriate conclusions
about the level of pollution in the environment. No
doubt he used his expertise in both law and the environ
ment to do something about the situation. ("All Things
Considered," National Public Radio, 26 October 1988.)
Professional-applied to felds ranging from business man
agement and health care to machinist and physicist. Scientists
and economists use mathematics to investigate and, hopefully,
solve the severe problems that confront the world, among them
global warming, AIDS, waste disposal , and war. Both managers
and workers must have some understanding of statistics to make
sense of the quantities of information they generate and receive.
By now there are few felds of work that do not involve computers.
Leisure-games of chance and games of strategy, puzzles,
and prediction and analysis of sports events. Recall teenage
Alan, in the previous chapter, and his reluctance to play pool
because of his fear of math. It may come as a surprise to learn
that some people do math because it' s fun! Since most people
know only the math that they encountered in school , they can
not be faulted for their misconception that school math is real
math. Activities such as solving puzzles and playing games are
closer to real mathematics than are the exercises to which you
may have been exposed in school .
Cultural-"the role of mathematics as a major intellectual
tradition, as a subject appreciated as much for its beauty as for
its power . . . . Like language, religion, and music, mathematics
is a universal part of human culture."
12
All societies throughout
the ages have developed mathematical ideas and practices ap
propriate to their needs and interests.
With mathematics playing such an important role in our soci
ety, it is no wonder that many people suffer a loss of self-esteem
4 1
WH O N E E D S MATH1 E VE RYB ODY I
Are Women or Men Doing Better?
We know that smoking kills. Yet many of us continue to
smoke. The graph shows the percentage of men and of
women who smoked cigarettes in three different years:
1 965, 1980, and 1988. Obviously both men and women
have cut down on smoking. Who has the better record,
men or women?
The graph shows that half of men smoked in 1965,
while just over three out of ten were doing so in 1988.
The proportion of men who smoked in 1988 was just
about the same as the proportion of women smokers in
1965. Fewer women smoked to begin with. It seems that
the women are doing better.
P.rc@nt
L
50
Men

L
wcmen
c
40 L
30

N
(
20
1 0
0
1 9"5
\980 1 96&
Percent of Population Who Smoked Cigarettes
SOURCE: National Centers for Disease Control, Ofice of Smok
ing and Heal t h, reported in nOklnuHdcuIH Hc\lc, MarchI
April 1 991 .
(CoHtinued)
42
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY !
Ar Women or Men Doing Better? (contnued)
Let's translate the percentages into concrete numbers,
For every ffty men who smoked in 1 965, thirty-one were
still smoking in 1988. In other words, sixty-two out of a
hundred former male smokers were still at it in 1988.
For every thirty-two female smokers in 1 965, twenty-six
were smokers in 1 988, the equivalent of eighty-one out of
a hundred. These fgures show that women smokers
were slower than male smokers to give up the habit.
In mathematical terms, the ratio of women smokers to
the total number of women has always been smaller than
that for men. But women have been giving up smoking at
a slower rate than men. Both sexes need to improve!
because of a perceived inability to cope with the subject. I had
known Becky (age 68) only a few minutes before she confessed to
me that she still did not know the answer to "one-half times one
fourth. " Then she related the incident that had turned her away
from math forever. In seventh grade a male teacher, angry at her
momentary lack of attention, had slammed his book on the desk
and called her "stupid." Rather than going to the principal as the
teacher had ordered, she wen t home crying. After her paren ts had
complained to the principal, the teacher continued to harass her
with remarks to the class such as "she'll cry" and "she'll tell her
parents." Becky, formerly an A student in math, just barely passed
the subject thereafter. Her father attempted to console her by
assuring her that she didn't need more math. "You only need to
know up to 1 2. No recipe calls for more than 1 2," an allusion to her
future role as a housewife. Becky had eight children, taught ele
mentary grades (but not fractions), and then became a librarian.
Yet she has never regained her confdence in her ability to do
mathematics.
T Curent Situation
The words "underserved" and "underrepresented" have entered
the vocabulary of concerned educators. "Underserved" refers to
4 3
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R YB ODY!
the fact that large segments of the population of the United
States are not receiving the kind of education that they need and
deserve. The "underrepresented" are the groups that are not par
ticipating in higher education and in prestigious and well-paid
occupations to the degree that their numbers in the population
as a whole would warrant.
Who are the underserved and the underrepresented? For the
most part, they are the victims of poverty and discrimination on
the basis of race, ethnicity, and gender. Let's be more specifc.
During the past few years a spate of reports from governmen
tal, educational, and corporate leaders have deplored the low
level of mathematics and science achievement in our country.
According to the report Educating Americans for the 21 st Centur,
the even poorer performance of African-American, Native Ameri
can, and Latino students "can be traced directly to both blatant
and subtle racial discrimination (including stereotyped racial
attitudes), and extreme poverty. [When these students) are ex
posed to a good learning environment, they perform as well as
any. Low achievement norms do not reflect ability; they reflect a
lack of preparation and early exposure."13
These conditions exist in spite of the improvements in educa
tional opportunities of the past few decades. The landmark 1954
Supreme Court decision on school desegregation and the Higher
Education Act of 1 965 providing fnancial aid programs for mi
norities enabled more people of color to participate in higher
education. Similarly, the federal Bilingual Education Act of
1 968, as well as legal action in the 1 970s, contributed to the
improvement in the education of Hispanic and other language
minority students. Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1 972 prohibi ted sex discrimination in any educational program
receiving federal assistance.
Despite improved education and job opportunities, women,
African Americans, and Hispanics are still greatly underrepre
sented i n mathematics-related careers. Black engineers and
scientists (including social scientists and psychologists) consti
tuted 2. 6 percent of the total number of engineers and scien
tists in the United States in 1988, up from 1 .8 percent in 1978.
If African Americans were fairly represented in these felds,
according to their share of the population, the number should
increase fvefold. Hispanics comprised 1 .8 percent, compared
with their 8 percent share of the total population. To be fair,
44
WH O N E E D S MAT H ? E VE R Y B OD Y I
Math Prof's Expertise Helps Far Worker
Born i n Mexico, Luis Ortiz-Franco earned his doctorate
at Stanford University and is currently a professor of
mathematics at Chapman University in California. After
a stint as a research associate at the U. S. Department of
Education, he joined the staff of the United Farm Work
ers of America, where he conducted research for labor
law cases, engaged in labor organizing, and participated
in labor contract negotiations. His mathematical knowl
edge was a critical asset in securing fair compensation
for the farm workers.
One specific problem involved the union's demands
[or fair wages and benefts lost during a lockout by a
California company. Ortiz-Franco had to estimate the
dollar value of the wages lost during the duration of the
l ockout, the value of the benefts that would have ac
crued during that period, and interest on these amounts.
Through the efforts of the United Farm Workers and its
leadership, headed by Cesar Chavez, the workers recov
ered these funds and negotiated a better contract than
the one in force before the conflict. (Personal communica
tion with Dr. Ortiz-Franco.)
more than four times as many Hispanics should be in the pool
of scientists and engineers.
It is interesting to note that African-American women were
much better represented among female scientists than were
African-American men among male scientists-5 percent and 2
percent, respectively. To a lesser extent, Latinas had a larger
share than Latinos. Of course, the whole pool of female scientists
was very small, only 1 5 percent of the total in 1986.
Native American representation was about equal to their
share of the population. Asians, both men and women, were
overrepresented, particularly in the feld of engineering, but a
large number-27 percent in 1 986-were not citizens of the
United States."
During the past few years dramatic changes have occurred
4 5
WH O N E E D S MATH? E VE RYB ODY I
in the participation of women in some felds requiring a good
math background. In 1 979 only one in three accountants and
auditors was a woman. By 1 986 the percentage had climbed to
45 percent; almost half the people in the feld were women. For
computer programmers the increase was similar, from 28 per
cent to 40 percenLI5
Although few women have entered engineering, the number
of female engineering graduates has increased. In 1976 only one
out of sixty engineers in the United States was a woman. By
1 986 the fgure was one out of twenty-fve, still woefully small.
However, 1 5 percen t of all engineering bachelor's degrees were
earned by women in 1985, compared with only 2 percent ten
years earlier.
16
A 1989 report of the American Associa tion for the Advance
ment of Science, Science for All Americans, had this to say about
equity in science (including mathematics) education:
When demographic realities, national needs, and demo
cratic values are taken into account, it becomes clear
that the nation can no longer ignore the science educa
tion of any students. Race, language, sex, or economic
circumstances must no longer be permitted to be factors
in determining who does and who does not receive a
good education i n science, mathematics, and technology.
To neglect the science education of any (as has happened
too often to girls and minority students) is to deprive
them of a basic education, handicap them for life, and
deprive the nation of talented workers and informed
citizens-a loss the nation can ill afford. "
46
CHAPTER THREE

Myth of Innate Inferorty

I have learned from experience that my dislike of math was
intimately connected to my fear that I could not do mathemat
ics, that I just wasn't smart enough. This is not true for me; nor
is II true for anybody else. There are skills which can be learned
that in turn offer us opportunities to learn yet more.
Mathematics is not just for genius lOs. We lose a lot as a
society when we decide that only the chosen few are capable.
Perceived differences in ability are tied in with income, educa
tional opportunities, life experiences, which should give any
one pause when making such judgments.
-Mary Jo Cittadino, Mathematics Educator,
EQUALS, University o{Cali{omia at Berkeley
Over the years many theories have emerged that purport to
prove the innate inferiority of women, Africans and other people
of color, and members of the working class. No sooner is the
falsity of one theory exposed, than another is put forth to take its
place. These sexist, racist, and elitist ideas have had a profound
effect on our educational system and on the lives of their vic
tims. Fear of math is one devastating outcome.
Several years ago I received a letter from my friend Jane,
asking: "Is it true that girls can't do advanced math? That's
what I read in the New York Times last Sunday." I was shocked, to
put it mildly. Jane and I had been discussing this question for
ages, and I was sure that she had no doubts about the ability of
women to do any kind of mathematics. What had she read that
would induce her to raise this question?
The title of the article, "Girls and Math: Is Biology Really
Destiny?," as well as the text, suggested that genetic traits are
responsible for the fact that females get lower scores than males
on standardized tests like the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and
the American College Testing (ACT) Program, taken by high
school juniors and seniors as part of the college admissions pro
cess. One researcher, Camille Benbow, was quoted as saying:
4 7
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E R I ORI TY
"Many people don't want to believe the male advantage could be
biological. . . . It took me ffteen years to get used to the idea."!
The belief that females have an inborn, unalterable inferior
ity when i t comes to doing math is among the myths that induce
them to shun mathematics. Unproven beliefs about the innate
intellectual inferiority of any specifc group in relation to an
other affects that group's attitude toward math. Why bother
trying to achieve in a feld in which one is doomed by nature to
be totally incompetent?
In this chapter I shall try to demolish some of the beliefs that
still pervade our society, among them:
Math is for boys.
Males have more spatial ability than females, and that
makes them superior in mathematics.
Asians are superior to all other groups in their aptitude for
mathematics.
Whites are superior to blacks in intelligence.
Add to this list some myths about standardized tests. Testing
is an important issue. It is generally these tests that determine
how people are sorted into "achievers" and "nonachievers. "
These tests often serve to deprive people of access to education
and careers. Two myths about testing are:
Scholastic Aptitude Tests (SATs) measure aptitude or pre
dict achievement i n college.
Intelligence (IQ) tests are a reliable measure of an individ
ual's intellectual capacity.
Later chapters will deal with other myths about the ability
to learn mathematics, such as:
One must have a "mathematical mind" to do math.
Children who are considered "culturally deprived" or "learn
ing disabled" cannot learn math.
Is Math for Bs Oy?
The psychologists Camille Benbow and Julian Stanley are among
the main proponents of the point of view that males have a
4 8
MY T H S OF I N NATE I N F E R I O RI TY
"biological math advantage." In 1980 they made the news with
an article in the journal Science entitled "Sex Differences in
Mathematical Ability: Fact or Artifact?" in which they stated:
"We favor the hypothesis that sex differences in achievement in
and attitude toward mathematics result from superior male
mathematical ability, which may i n turn be related to greater
male ability in spatial tasks." They arrived at this conclusion by
comparing the SAT scores of gifted twelve-year-old girls and
boys competing for admission to an accelerated program for
"mathematically precocious youth."2
From the media's coverage of this issue one got the impres
sion that there was no doubt about women's inferior innate abil
ity in math:
"Do males have a math gene?")
. . . males inherently have more mathematical ability than
females."4
"Two psychologists said yesterday that boys are better than
girls in mathematics reasoning.'"
Although many researchers in the feld severely criticized the
study on which these conclusions were based, the media, in the
main, chose to ignore evidence that contradicted these biased
views. "It is virtually impossible to undo the harm that the sensa
tionalized coverage has done," declared two leading women
mathematicians in an editorial in Science. Indeed, within a few
short years it became evident that parents' beliefs about their
daughters' mathematical abilities were being infuenced nega
tively by the media's coverage of this issue.-
Carolyn was growing up during the time of this media blitz.
"My mother kept telling me she was never good at math either,
and a lot of people told me that girls were better at English and
boys were better at math when I was young. So I think this also
stuck with me and was in the back of my mind. It contributed to
my math anxiety.
More recently Benbow and Stanley attributed the supposed
superior spatial ability in males to the effect of the male sex
hormone testosterone in the prenatal stage. Supposedly this hor
mone strengthens the righ t hemisphere, the part of the brain spec
ialized in spatial visualization. And spatial ability, they claimed,
is essential to solve higher-level mathematical problems.'
4 9
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E RI ORI TY
Another Longitudinal Study
b Phyllis R. Steinmnn
Once upon a time, in 1 940, a research team decided to
study the cooking abili ty of males and females to see if
sex had any effect on this ability. The population chosen
for the study consisted of 2,000 individuals selected at
random. One thousand were males and one thousand
were females. Their ages ranged from 5. 5 years to 6.5
years. They were observed for an average of two weeks,
usually in the kitchen. It was found that both groups
were equally adept at spreading peanut butter on slices
of bread. Their biggest probl em was when the jar of pea
nut butter was on the top shelf. Then the boys, who were
slightly taller than the girls, had a little advantage. The
major difference i n the sexes was that the girls were
twice as likely to put the dirty knife in the sink.
The same subjects were investigated again in 1946
when their ages ranged from 1 1 .5 to 1 2.5. The large major
ityof girls, 65 percent, were able to prepare a simple meal,
while only 1 5 percent of the boys had attained this skill.
The fnal study in the series was done in 1952, when
the subjects were around eighteen years old. At this time
most of the females, 85 percent, were capable of prepar
ing a full course dinner, but only 5 percent of the males
could do this.
The study clearly showed that there was a great differ
ence i n the cooking ability of boys and girls. Ten percent
of the sample were twins where one was male and the
other female. These siblings, brought up in the same
environment, showed the same discrepancy in cooking
abili ty. It was decided the only explanation for this situa
tion was that the ability to cook was stronger in female
genes than in male genes.
In order to confirm the fnding of this study, it was
repeated again in 1972 with another group of 1 ,000 boys
and 1 ,000 girls. At age six, the two groups were again
found to be equally able to spread peanut butter sand-
(Continued)
5 0
MY T H S OF I N NATE I NF E R I ORI TY
Another Longitudinal Study (contnue)
wiches. In 1978 at age twelve, they were about equal in
their ability to heat up TV dinners in the microwave
oven. In 1984, neither group had developed any real cook
ing skills, opting to eat out at McDonald's.
The results of this study are still being analyzed. One
likely conclusion is that in a matter of some thirty years
the female genes have been altered, possibly caused by
radiation from TV sets.
NOTE: The Benbow-Stanley brouhaha inspired mathe
matics educator Phyllis Steinmann to write this satire
for the Women and Mathematics Education Nsletter 6
(Summer 1984). Steinmann also devised Algebra Blox,
materials that have proved very useful in her work with
math-fearing adults. See " Resources" (Appendix) for a
description and ordering information. Steinmann re
tired from the Maricopa County Community College Dis
trict, Arizona.
Their hypothesis raises many questions:
Is spatial ability a prerequisite for doing mathematics?
Does testosterone have the effect they claim for it?
Do males really have superior spatial ability?
Are SAT scores of precocious twelve-year-old children-or
even of high school seniors-a fair criterion for judging
mathematical ability?
Spatia Abilit
Let's frst examine the notion of spatial ability. There is no
general agreement among psychologists, mathematicians, and
mathematics educators as to what constitutes spatial ability. To
some it means the ability to visualize a three-dimensional fgure
in various positions. Others broaden the defnition to include
the capacity to handle any type of task involving relationships in
space. Almost everyone has this ability to at least some degree.
5 1
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E R I O RI TY
We can recognize tha t one object is larger than another. We
might be courting disaster if we failed to judge the closeness of
moving vehicles as we cross the street. Anyone who plays ball or
threads a needle has some intuitive feeling about spatial rela
tionships. Experienced pianists know exactly where to place
their fngers without having to look at the keyboard, a facility
that comes with practice.
Is spatial ability a prerequisite for doing math? Not necessar
ily. Some branches of mathematics do not involve spatial rela
tionships at all. In some other branches, problems can be solved
by either spatial or purely verbal methods. Two investigations
involving the solution of a variety of problems were carried out
with junior and senior high school students. The female and the
male students had each been divided into two groups, high
spatial and low-spatial ability, on the basis of their scores on
relevant tests. The low-spatial males did somewhat better in
solving the problems than did their high-spatial counterparts.
In some aspects of the solution process the high-spatial females
outperformed both male groups. Only one group performed sig
nifcantly more poorly than the other three. Females with low
scores in spatial skills seemed to have much more diffculty in
doing mathematics i n general. This may be important because
even a small group of females with low achievement levels can
pull down the average score for females overall.'
Much has been made of right-brain and left-brain differ
ences.' In females the left hemisphere is supposedly more devel
oped, resulting in greater verbal ability, while men, with their
right brain superiority, are thought to excel in spatial ability.
Tests show, however, that both halves of the brain are involved
in most mental processes. In one study participants were given
two tasks, one requiring spatial judgment and the other, numeri
cal judgment. Using an array of recording electrodes on the sub
ject's scalp and a pattern-recognition computer program, the
researcher determined that neither task involved just the left
side or the right side of the brain. On the contrary, each task
produced a complex pattern of electrical activity on both sides
of the brain. l
O
As for the effect of the hormone testosterone, no one has been
able to show concrete evidence for its influence on brain function
ing in the prenatal stage. In fact, any hypothesis involving genetic
influence on intellectual abili ty is a "black box" situation. it's just
52
MY T H S OF I N NATE I NF E R I O RI TY
not possible to prove i t one way or the other. We do know, how
ever, that sex differences in mathematics achievement, outside
of the SATs and similar tests, have by now become almost
negligible. Obviously, genes don't change from one generation to
the next. The improvement must be due to social factors. 1 1
But i t' s not necessary to rely on untestable theories about
genes and hormones to compare male and female spatial ability.
A variety of tests are available to measure different aspects of
this skill. On timed tests, males have a slight edge, chiefly on
exercises involving mental rotations of a three-dimensional ob
ject. But when given adequate time, women do just as well as
men. Critics raise objections to the use of such tests to conclude
that women are innately inferior in spatial ability. For one thing,
most of the tests are timed, and many women don't do as well as
men on timed tests. Secondly, the exercises are not placed in a
meaningful context, a factor that seems to be more vital to
women than to men. 12 I will discuss these factors later in this
chapter and in subsequent chapters.
At present we have relatively little information about the
interrelationships of brain, ability, and learning experiences. But
we can point to studies that show the positive effects of training.
To cite one example, Joan Ferrini-Mundy gave women in her cal
culus classes specifc training in imaging the sketching of a solid
fgure as it revolved about an axis. She concluded that "practice
on spatial tasks enhanced women's ability and tendency to visual
ize while doing solid-of-revolution problems." A further outcome
was an improvement in women's performance to the point where
they equaled or surpassed the men in the calculus courses. I '
A study conducted by the Educational Testing Service (ETS)
confrms the importance of training and experience in develop
ing the spatial skills of both females and males. ETS compared
the spatial abilities of high school seniors in 1 980 with those of
1960 seniors, using a test called "Visualization in Three Dimen
sions." Not only did the 1980 group score lower than their 1960
counterparts, but their scores were equivalent to those of frst
year high school students in 1960. Although in 1980 males con
tinued to perform better than females, the gap between the
sexes had narrowed. These outcomes are a strong indication
that experiential factors influence the development of spatial
ability. ETS researcher Thomas Hilton believes that the decline
is due to the way young people spend their time. When they are
5 3
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E R I ORI TY
d
b
c
Which Block in the Bottom Row Matches the Blok on Top? (b)
engaged in watching television, they have less time to spend in
sports and hobbies like constructing models. Schools, moreover,
are offering fewer courses in three-dimensional geometry, me
chanical drawing, sewing, art, wood shop, and metal shop. As
another researcher remarked, although these tests don't mea
sure everyday uses of three-dimensional abilities, the decline in
skills is alarming.l4
From time immemorial women have been engaging in tasks
that require spatial ability. Our foremothers sewed and knitted
clothing and household items, as many women continue to do
today. The patterns in Dineh (Navajo) rugs, Hopi baskets, and
Nigerian painted resist cloth, to name but a few examples of
women's art, call for the application of high-level spatial skills.
Ndebele (South African) women paint elaborate geometric pat
terns, usually of their own design, on the walls of their homes.1
S
All these women work with no reference to sketches or measure
ments. Instead, they rely on their ability to visualize.
Many observers have remarked about the extraordinary tal
ent of Inuit (Eskimo) women and men for spatial orientation and
visualization, a skill required by their vast, snowy, virtually fea
tureless environment. Studies fnd that women athletes consis-
54
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E R I OR I T Y
Dineh (Navajo) rug. Courtesy of Vestal Public Library.
(Photograph by Sam Zaslavsky.)
Dineh (Navajo) rug. Courtesy of Sydra Schnipper.
(Photograph by Sam Zaslavsky.)
5 5
MY T H S OF I N NATE I N F E R I ORI TY
tently do better than average men on spatial-skills tests. Were all
these people born with this facility, or is it more logical to as
sume that the skills were developed in the course of years of
practical applications?
In the sphere of work in the industrialized world, few occupa
tions require the type of spatial ability in which women don't
test as well as men. Yet these tests are used as screening devices
to exclude women from careers and educational programs, even
from those that don't require such skills.
Scholstic Aptitu Tests an Mathematical Abilit
The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), as its name implies, is sup
posed to measure a person's aptitude. The SATs are multiple
choice tests, one designed to measure verbal aptitude and the
other, mathematical aptitude. Scores on each test range from a
low of 200 to a high of 800. In recent years the SATs have come un
der considerable criticism. In a scathing attack on the parent or
ganization, Educational Testing Service (ETS), David Owen
points to major weaknesses in the results obtained from these
tests.
For one thing, the multiple-choice-critics call it the
"multiple-guess" -format requires the test taker to choose one
correct answer, working wi thin a tight time limit. Women tend to
take more time than men to consider the alternatives and reflect
upon their choices. As a result, they may complete fewer items.
Socialized to follow rules, they are apt to take more seriously the
warning about penalties for wrong answers and toomit questions
when they are not sure about the answers. Often it's the bold risk
taker, the aggressive guesser, who gets the high score. Women
don't do as well as men on this type of test, nor is this the kind of
aptitude that college work demands.l Of course, these compari
sons between men and women only indicate a tendency. They
certainly do not apply to all women and all men. Some women
are not afraid to take risks, while some men work slowly.
Pam (age 20) entered a community college after several
years of bad experiences with high school math. "I felt incredi
bly lacking in intelligence." In college she learned from a sympa
thetic instructor that math problems do not have to be done so
fast, and that a wrong answer is not a calamity. "He explained
that time is not defned when it comes to math problems. What
5 6
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E RI ORI T Y
Timed Tests
In a poignant passage of her book, Balm in Gilead, Sara
Laurence Lightfoot tells about her mother's frustration
with timed tests, At the age of fourteen Margaret Lau
rence moved to New York City to attend single-sex
Wadleigh High School. Sara Lightfoot writes:
In order to be admitted to Wadleigh, prospective
students had to take entrance examinations-both
achievement tests and departmental exams. For the
fourteen-year-old girl from Mississippi, the achieve
ment tests were an ordeal-a strange format for test
ing knowledge at a baffling, accelerated pace. She did
poorly on achievement tests (a patter that would
continue through college). "I was not geared to rapid
test taking. I expected to sit there and think about i t . I
remember them taking the test away before 1 ever got
started." The contrast in style and pace between the
teaching methods in her black school in the Deep
South and in the classical, academic high school in
the urban Northeast must have contributed to Marga
ret's frustrations and low scores on the standardized
tests. But her depressed scores did not simply reRect
the differences in cultural style and educational ex
pectations. Margaret's intelligence does not lie in the
quick, discrete response, in the immediate recall of
fact. Her mind works more slowly as it considers vari
ous perspectives, considers competing interpreta
tions, and puts pieces together . . . . [Her) intellectual
and temperamental tendencies did not make her a
good candidate for the standardized tests.
Margaret Laurence's intellectual and temperamental
tendencies did help her to earn both a medical degree and
a public health degree, and to pursue a distinguished ca
reer as a psychiatrist. (Sara Laurence Lightfoot, Balm in
Gilead [Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1988), 84.)
5 7
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E RI ORI TY
an idea! Finally I was able to see that taking longer on a problem
doesn't necessarily mean that I will never fnd the answer or
that I'm not capable of fnding the answer. I am." Hardly the
mind-set for taking a timed SAT test, but it serves her well in her
second course in calculus.
If the SATs were truly measures of innate aptitude, would
coaching improve the scores? Coaching is now a multi-million
dollar business, and many high schools, particularly in high
income areas, have established their own coaching classes.
Coaching schools claim to raise the score on each test by up to
100 points. One of my own students, on his second try at the
math SAT, was able to better his score by almost 200 points,
with my help and several months of practice. Although the ETS
guide discourages guessing, and wrong answers are penalized,
coaching schools teach "smart guessing" as a test-taking tech
nique. It often works wonders."
Taking advanced math and science courses in high school
also serves to increase scores on the math SAT. In 1992 there was
a spread of 146 points between those who had taken over four
years of high school math and those who had studied the subject
for only two to two-and-a-half years. Fewer women than men
take advanced math and physics, although the gap is becoming
smaller. And as Patricia Campbell points out: "Low-income stu
dents and students of color who take algebra and geometry go to
college in numbers equal to wealthier whites. However, only
half as many low-income students and students of color take
these important courses."]
8
Because the SATs have been criticized on the grounds of cul
ture and gender bias, ETS has instituted an internal review to
eliminate bias in the questions. The major source of bias, however,
cannot be removed by ETS. 1t lies in the inequities in our society.
Wealthy students and children of highly educated parents score
far higher than children of low-income and poorly educated par
ents. In 1992 there was a difference of more than 100 points in the
average math scores of low-income and high-income test takers.
In the lower-income categories many more women than men take
the test; men may opt for the military or a job instead of college.
The preponderance of low-income women with inadequate math
backgrounds tends to bring down the average score for women. A
similar spread is found on the basis of parents' educational level.
Asian Americans have the highest math SAT scores, higher
5 8
MY T H S O F I N NATE I NF E R I O RI TY
SAT-Mathematics Averages by Family Income, VVZ
Percent SAT-Math
Percent
Famil Income SAT takers averae Female Male
Less than $1 0,000 5 41 5 61 39
$1 0,000-$20,000 434 58 42
$20,000-$30,000 1 4 453 55 45
$30,00-$40,000 1 7 467 53 47
$40,000-$50,000 1 3 480 51 49
$50,000-$60,000 492 51 49
$60,000-$70,000 8 501 50 50
$70,000 or more 20 530 49 51
bOURCH. College-Bound Seniors: 1992 Profle of SAT and Achievement Test Takers
(New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 1992).
than those of whites, although their verbal scores are lower than
whites'. Their achievements in math and science have led to ste
reotypes about innate mathematical ability, stereotypes that
Asian students frequently resent and try to counteract. Many of
these students come from highly educated professional families,
recent immigrants to the United States, They may have at
tended schools in their native countries that are tougher than
ours, and they are accustomed to spending time on homework
rather than on TV Parents may exert a great deal of pressure for
their children to succeed. "
Here are the comments of two Asian high school students:
Chu (from Hong Kong): "I would say that we study math
at a higher level in my country. The entire system is
different. " He adds that Asian students are attached to
math and science because it is an international lan
guage, "!t's just a way for survival . . . a way to move
ahead. Parents think that kids should go for science i n
order for them to secure a better job,"
Grace remarks about her parents: "They feel that math
and science is the key to success in the world," She ad
mits that being stereotyped irritates her and uncon
sciously makes her want to do poorly in science and
math to spite everyone.20
Working-class students of both sexes score lower than middle
class and wealthy white males, A disproportionate number of
59
MY T H S O F I NNATE I N F E RI ORI TY
these young people are members of minority groups. In 1982 the
College Board publicized for the frst time a breakdown of SAT
scores by race, revealing that African-American high school se
niors scored about 100 points lower than the national norm in
mathematics. The vast difference in average family income pro
vided an obvious explanation. The scores of all students rose with
family income and parents' educational level, and the gap be
tween the scores of black and white students narrowed as income
rose. The telling point is that the average family income of white
families was about twice that of black families."
The noted African-American educator, Dr. Kenneth B. Clark,
commenting on the College Board's action, pointed to a more
insidious factor:
The traditional "explanation" for blacks' consistently
low academic achievement scores is that blacks are in
herently inferior intellectually. This "explanation," in its
subtle and gross forms, is a manifestation of the racism
that lies at the core of. and perpetuates this educational
and social problem.
Black children are educationally retarded because the
public schools they are required to attend are polluted by
racism. Their low scores reflect the racial segregation and
inferiority of these schools. These children are perceived
and treated as if they were uneducable. From the earliest
grades, they are programmed for failure. Throughout
their lives, they are classic examples of the validity of the
concept of victimization by self-fulflling prophesy."
ETS no longer claims that the tests actually measure apti
tude, but states that they are useful in predicting college perfor
mance. The argument doesn' t hold water. Studies have shown
that high school grades are better predictors than the SATs. For
example, women's grades in high school math classes and subject
matter tests, like the New York State Regents exams, have been
comparable or superior to those of young men. And women do as
well as men in college math and science courses, even though
their SAT scores are lower. An Educational Testing Service study
of almost 47,000 college students, matched for mathematics
courses and grades earned, revealed that males had averaged
thirty-three points higher than females on the math SAT. But
6 0
MYT H S O F I N NAT E I N F E R I O RI TY
Nac
tcmac
Z 456 499
Distribution of SAT-Mathematics Scores by Gender
SOURCE: College-Bound Seniors: 1992 Profle o{SAr and Achievement rest
Takers (New York: College Entrance Examination Board, 1992).
because these SAT scores are used as a basis for scholarship
awards, as well as for college entrance, women lose DUt.l3
In sum, SAT scores reflect education, attitudes, experience,
and test-taking skills. Vet we are led to believe, years after the
exposure by Clark, Owen, and many others, that the tests actu
ally measure innate ability. In an Op-Ed in the New York Times in
1989, Steven Goldberg, chair of the sociology department of the
City College of New Vork, argued: "It is the male superiority at
various spatial and mathematical aptitudes that correlate with
college performance . . . . No serious researcher questions male
superiority in mathematical reasoning." His argument rests on
the difference in mathematics SAT scores of men and women. He
maintains that the "SATs are . . . the best single predictor of
college performance" and that they "emphasize intelligence."
Subsequently the New York Times published several letters, in
cluding one from the mathematics chairmen of Harvard and
Princeton universities, refuting Goldberg's arguments."
IQ Tests and Intl e
The IQ test is popularly thought to be an objective measure, like
height or weight, that can be used to arrange children according
to their degree of intelligence." Nothing is further from reality.
Long before the existence of the SATs, the IQ test served as a
sorting device.
6 1
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E RI OR I TY
M
o ,#
Of
I!

II"
5C

ts
.|
S rOft oj :-t-
r
r
t
+r
:-t, iY <| .
t"k,

st fM
=|s-: /
Tests to measure " intelligence" were devised in France in the
early 1 900s by Alfred Binet, to identify children who might
proft from special education. He assigned an age level to each
task, based on its degree of diffculty. To compute the intelli
gence quotient (10), the mental age was divided by the chrono
logical age of the child.
American psychologists seized upon Binet's concept. They
took Binet's scores as measures of a fxed entity called intelli
gence which, they assumed, was largely inherited and marked
people for their station in society. Stanford University professor
Lewis M. Terman adapted Binet's tasks for mass testing. These
tests have had a sinister effect upon the history of our country.
They have been used to track children in school, to limit the
access of African Americans to higher education, and to justify
racial segregation. They contributed to the passage of the Immi
gration Act of 1924, which imposed strict ethnic quotas that
excluded most eastern and southern Europeans, and which was
not repealed until 1 965.
Arthur Jensen, in his 1969 article "How Much Can We Boost
10 and Scholastic Achievement?" sought to prove that blacks'
lower scores on tests were due mainly to heredity, and could be
62
MY T H S O F I N NAT E I N F E R I OR I T Y
modifed only very slightly by experience. Blacks, he argued, are
capable of little more than rote learning."
Most of the media picked up Jensen's thesis uncritically, just
as they have devoted major attention to Benbow and Stanley's
conclusions. Imagine the effect on a young African American
reading an article with the headline "Born Dumb?" Although
children's advocates have forced the banning of mass 10 testing
in many districts, the damage has been done. No doubt many
educators use Jensen's arguments to confrm their stereotypes
about the ability of their black students."
IO-type tests are widely used today, although they are more
likely to be called " aptitude" tests. They serve to track a dispropor
tionate number of students of color and working-class children
into low-level or special-education classes, thereby depriving
them of opportunities for productive and creative lives.
Some testing proponents favor the use of IO-type paper-and
pencil tests for screening applicants for all kinds of jobs, claim
ing that the score on such a "cognitive ability" test is a valid
criterion for selecting employees for al jobs, including such
skill-oriented work as welding. The Lawyers' Committee Em
ployment Discrimination Project has challenged the use of such
tests, alleging that they are used to get around affrmative ac
tion guidelines for hiring members of minori ty groups. Many
candidates have adequate skills for jobs like welder or beauti
cian, but have been deprived of the educational opportunities
that would enable them to do well on written "cognitive ability"
tests, thus excluding them from these positions."
The practice of 10 testing rests on several questionable as
sumptions: that every person has a specifc, unalterable entity
called intelligence, that it can be measured by a test, and on that
basis it can be assigned a valid number. Many of the criticisms of
the SATs as a measure of innate aptitude apply as well to 10
tests. They are clearly biased toward the groups that are most
successful in our society.29
On the subject of bias within the tests themselves, Jonathan
Beckwith of Harvard Medical School writes:
The elimination of bias is an enormous problem in the
design of tests. Consider the history of the Stanford
Binet 10 test. When it was frst prepared in 1916, women
6 3
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E R I ORI TY
had higher scores than men. Since the test makers appar
ently made a judgment that women and men were equal
in intelligence, the tests had to be redesigned. Certain
questions in which women did consistently better than
men were eliminated, so as to result in the same mean
score for men and women. The same people could also
have decided, if they had wished, to readjust tests in
order to have blacks and whites have equal scores. What
is clear is that assumptions about the relative intelli
gence of groups of people have gone into the very design
of the SAT and other tests."
Many studies have demonstrated beyond doubt that intellec
tual capacity improves signifcantly with training, education,
and richer opportunities." To cite one example, each year over a
period of nine years, a number of African-American students from
the public schools of Washington, D.C., were randomly chosen to
receive scholarships to an innovative independent high school.
Although these students worked, many were failing math and
science. This school stressed the use of language and higher-order
thinking skills, in contrast to the rote memorization methods the
students had been taught previously. With special courses to en
hance their thinking ability and with additional attention from
encouraging teachers, these young people were able to make tre
mendous strides in their math and science work.32
Israeli psychologist Dr. Reuven Feuerstein, an adamant oppo
nent of traditional IQ tests, has developed an alternative testing
instrument based on an entirely different model of intelligence.
He believes that learning potential is the most important feature
of intelligence, and emphasizes the key role of experienced
adults, who, through active intervention, can help children learn
to think, to solve problems, and to overcome obstacles. In his
Learning Potential Assessment Device, a substitute for the IQ
test, a trained examiner gives hints and encourages reflection to
enable the subject to arrive at solutions.
Feuerstein and Jensen are at opposite poles in their views of
intelligence. On the basis of years of work with thousands of
children in several countries, including displaced Jewish chil
dren traumatized by their experiences during and after World
War II, Feuerstein asserts that thinking skills can be taught. His
64
MY T H S OF I N NATE I N F E R I OR I TY
Instrumental Enrichment program of "Let Me Think" exercises
is designed to do just that. The teacher's role is fundamental.
Teachers must sincerely believe that all children can achieve,
while at the same time playing a crucial role in helping students
develop their cognitive skills.33
Neet: Diferent Research an More Action
The stereotypes about the capabilities of women and of people of
color have been with us for centuries. They have been used to keep
women "in their place" and to justify slavery, conquest, and ex
ploitation. But i t is only in recent times, with the development of
statistical methods, that the stereotypes have been quantifed
and thus made "scientifc." People may be impressed when they
read that many thousands of students were tested in the Benbow
Stanley study. How could the conclusions possibly be wrong
when so many subjects were involved?
Furthermore, readers of these sensational articles are led to
believe that all males have better math scores than all females,
or that all European Americans have higher lOs than all African
Americans. Nothing can be farther from the truth. It would be
more accurate to point to the large overlap in the scores of the
two groups under comparison-assuming that one puts any
faith in scores on 10 tests, SATs, and other standardized tests as
a measure of innate ability and intelligence. And many of these
differences in average scores have been growing smaller in the
past few years.
Reports such as those by Benbow and Stanley and by Jensen
have a profound effect upon educational policy at all levels. It is
of crucial importance that all people develop the tools that can
enable them to analyze such reports critically-to look at the
assumptions made by the investigators, to examine their use of
numbers, to judge whether the conclusions are warranted.
Why is it that the proponents of racist and sexist points of
view are able to get the most attention? Why don't we see head
lines that proclai m:
"Everyone Can Learn to Think!"
"High Income Blacks and Whites Have Similar Scores"
"Girls and Boys Have Equal Aptitude for Math"
6 5
MY T H S O F I NNAT E I N F E RI ORI TY
When "Mor" Doesn't Mean "Better"
Yves Christen, described as a "prolific science writer
with a doctor's degree," discussed the work of Benbow
and Stanley in his book, Sex Differences: Modem Biologv
and the Unise Fallacy. Obviously he was so impressed by
the number of subjects in their studies that he ignored
completely the validity of the testing methods and the
objections raised by researchers in the field. Here is a
passage from his book:
Their research was conducted frst on 10,000 chil
dren in the Johns Hopkins area, and subsequently on
a sample of 40,000 Americans! As of the publication
of the frst part of their work, the results were clear:
more boys than girls get good grades in math. Better
still, or rather worse, as one ascends the hierarchy of
mathematical ability, the differences become more
and more overwhelming. Faced with increasingly dif
ficult problems, even relatively high-scoring girls
fade away. Intelligence tests that examine mathe
matical aptitude confrm this major gap . . . .
Three years later . . . their sample included 40,000
people, and the results were even clearer with regard
to differences at the highest levels of ability. Consider
SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores of 420 and
higher: the ratio of male to female success is 1 .5 . n = &
But at the 700 level, the ratio reaches 1 3 n After
this, is i t still possible to speak of chance and cul
tural influence? Most experts fnd that difficult to
believe.
(Yves Christen, Sex Differences: Modem Biology and the
Unisex Fallacy [New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 1991 ] ,
72. Translated from the 1 987 French edition.)
66
MY T H S OF I N NAT E I N F E R I O RI TY
Studies have demonstrated that all of these statements are
true, but the media don't consider these stories newsworthy
read "sensational." A more signifcant reason is that such views
threaten the power structure as it exists today-predominantly
white, male, and wealthy. When women and people of color de
mand equal rights and affrmative action, they can be con
fronted with "scientifc studies" proving that biology limits their
capabilities. "No use trying, folks, because you just haven't got
what it takes! "
For example, proponents of an act to provide equal opportu
ni ties for women in science and technology were told by oppo
nents of this legislation that it was a waste of money because
women are genetically inferior when it comes to mathematics.34
When Jensen argued that blacks were genetically less capable of
learning than whites, and that better educational programs
would hardly improve their performance, some government off
cials seized eagerly upon this argument to urge the abolition of
compensatory programs.35
In a review of studies about women's mathematical apti
tude, researcher Susan Chipman concluded: " Sometimes I fear
that what makes research on sex differences so sexy a topic, such
front-page material, is the lurking tendency to see in it justifca
tions for social policies of exclusion and differential treatment
that most of us hope are passe. Small average sex differences are
important because . . . . Why?""
With the growth of technology, the differences between the
educated elite and the neglected victims are becoming greater.
As mathematics educators Arthur Powell and Stuart Varden
comment : " Unfortunately the commonly felt view (though never
stated in public) that computers and related aspects of the new
technology are too complex for working class blacks, Latinos,
and women has not only locked them out of the computer feld,
but also has caused them to internalize this myth. "37
Interestingly, a test conducted at Claremont Graduate School
to measure computer aptitude, interest, and knowledge revealed
that women's aptitude was equal to that of men. This was an
unexpected outcome for the test developers, who had already
written in their manual that women had less aptitude! At all
levels of computer courses, women's performance was on the
same level as that of men."
Meanwhile the myths of innate inferiority persist, in spite of
67
MY T H S O F I N NATE I N F E RI ORI T Y
research studies disproving them. Many school systems con
tinue to track students on the basis of IQ and "aptitude" test
scores. Funds for improving educational opportunities and meth
ods are grossly inadequate; why waste money on students who
are incapable of learning?"
Far more in-depth research is needed on the environmental
factors that affect learning. Mathematics educators Laurie Hart
Reyes and George M. A. Stanic call for a research program to
analyze the ways in which race, gender, and socioeconomic
status influence the learning of mathematics: "Clearly, we live
in a society where racist, sexist, and classist orientations exist
in institutions and individuals. What is not clear is how such
ideas are transmitted to and through schools, how ideas are
mediated by democratic ideals of equality and equality of op
portunity, and the extent to which teachers and students accept
and resist the ideas. More specifcally, we do not yet fully under
stand how these ideas affect the teaching and learning of mathe
matics,"40
The victims of racist, sexist, and classist policies know from
their own experiences that these policies have held them back.
Research alone will not solve their problems. Research results,
when put into practice, can, however, shift the blame from the
victims and win support for campaigns to establish more equi
table policies and funding priorities, leading to equal educa
tional outcomes. The real issue is justice for all groups in all
aspects of life. Only when such justice is attained can we begin
to investigate the possibility of inherent racial, ethnic, or gen
der differences. Differences, not inferiority.
For those who have been victimized by stereotypes about
innate inferiority, it is reassuring to realize that i t is not too late
to make up for lost opportunities. Everyone can learn math at
any age, and the more one works at it, the more skilled one
becomes. We know now that positive experiences stimulate
brain growth throughout our lives. Instead of "biology is des
tiny," we can say with assurance that OU1 choices may determine
our biology!41
As Spelman College president Johnnetta Cole wrote: "The
reason there are only a handful of African American women
physicists is not because African Americans are dumb and
women can't do math! " In the following chapters we explore
these reasons.42
68
CHAPTER F OUR

itA Mind Is a Teribl

Ting to Wate! "
Gendr, Race, Ethnicity,
and Clss
I attended high schol . . . and set as my goal that of my elder
sister, Rosemarie. Upon graduation, I would be employable as
a secretary. I considered this ambitious, setting high sights for
my future.
It meant, however, that in place of mathematics or science
courses throughout my four years of high schol, I took short
hand and typing courses . . . . Going to college was like suggest
ing I could go to the moon. An English teacher in my sophomore
year suggested just that to me one day following class! She
asked if I'd ever considered college, encouraging me by saying
that she thought I'd make an excellent teacher. The seed was
planted, but I proceeded with my original plan formed before
high school-to graduate and get a job as a secretary . . . . Deci
sions about what courses to take in high school were pragmatic
and realistic given [my family's] fnancial situation.
-Mar Jo Cittadino, Mathematics Educator,
EQUALS, University o{Cali{oria at Berkeley
The call is out for well-educated workers, people with technical
backgrounds, with college degrees, and with graduate-level edu
cation. Out of necessity, government, industry, and institutions
are looking to women and people of color to fll these job slots.
These people will need to know mathematics. Why are so few of
them prepared to fll the positions of the future?
Studies show that Americans really do believe the myths
about innate inferiority. Not only do they think that some indi
viduals "don't have a mind for math," but that whole groups of
people-women, poor people, people of color (except Asians)-
69
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G T O WASTE ! "
can't learn mathematics. The sad part is that the victims them
selves have internalized these beliefs and tend to give up before
they have given themselves a chance.
Cultural factors are signifcant in young people's choices.
Girls and boys are assigned different roles from earliest child
hood, and peer pressure reinforces the belief that "math is not
for girls." Young African Americans may think of mathematics
as something that only white people do. The traditions of some
groups in our society clash with the demands of formal school
ing. As a result, capable people are disbarred from participation
in many careers.
More potent than gender, race, or ethnicity in determining
one's future is the factor of poverty. Poverty affects people of
color disproportionately, and is often a direct result of discrimi
nation in employment on the basis of skin color, language, or
culture.
Let's examine these factors more closely to see how they
have affected some people's lives. In this chapter we'll consider
the influence of the home and community. The next chapter will
deal with the educational establishment.
Socioeconomic Statu and Mathematical Potentil
In 1 990 one i n fve children in the United States under the age of
eighteen lived in poverty. The majority of these poor children are
white. For children of color, the fgures are grim-almost half of
black children and two out of fve Latino children live below the
government's "poverty line." Since 1979 white and Latino pov
erty rates rose faster than the rate for blacks. Poverty rates for
American Indians are equally grim.
Most poor people live in the inner cities, in small towns, and
in the rural areas of our country. Schools may be inferior and
social services limited. Many adults in these communities are
high school dropouts, eager to help their children to succeed, but
unaware of just how to go about i t. They cannot afford the perks
that middle-class parents give their children-good preschool
care, out-of-school enrichment programs, summer camps, tutor
ing services, to name just a few. Gone are the potential role mod
els, the successful professionals and business people; they have
moved to more prosperous communities. Most devastating of all,
7 0
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WAS T E ! "
Who Ar the Por?
Every year the United States Census Bureau issues a
report about the people of various racial/ethnic groups
living in poverty. Many economists
b
elieve that the gov
ernment sets the poverty line too low. However. I will use
the Census Bureau's fgures.
The table gives the numbers and percentages for the
year 1990. I have rounded all the fgures to the nearest
whole number. You might wonder why fgures for His
panics are listed separately. The Census Bureau classifes
Hispanics as belonging to any race; Hispanics actually
are counted twice in the table. The category "Other"
incl udes Asians. Pacifc Islanders, American Indians, Es
kimos, and Aleuts. to use the Census Bureau's classifica
tions. The population fgures are probably higher than
those listed here, particularly for blacks and Hispanics,
due to the undercount during census-taking-but that's
another story.
Poverty in the United States in VV
White Black Other Total Hispanic
Population 209 31 9 249 22
(mil lions)
Number in 23 10 34 6
pov('rty
(millions)
Percentage 1 1 % 32% 1 2% 14% 28%
of group
Now let's do some comparisons. Look first at the percent
ages. the last row in the table. Blacks had the highest
percentage of people in poverty, 32 percent. about three
times the I I percent rate for whites. One out of every
three black people was poor in 1 990. The Hispanic pov
erty rate, 28 percent. was close to that of blacks. We'd
have to dig deeper to fnd out the poverty rates of the
various groups included in the category "Other."
(Continued)
7 1
" A M I N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE I "
Who Are the Por? (contnued)
Which group had the largest nllmber of people in pov
erty? The middle row tells the story. In spite of the
widely held impression that most poor people are people
of color, we see that two out of every three poor people
were white in 1990. But it would be incorrect to con
clude that poverty is a greater problem for whites than
for people of color. The problem is three times as severe
for blacks as for whites.
Three important statements about poverty in the Uni
ted States in 1 990 (the prevalence of the number "three"
is a coincidence):
One out of every three black people was poor.
Two out of every three poor people were white.
The rate of poverty for blacks was three times the
rate for whites.
the environment and experiences of poor people tell them that
they are not worthy, that society doesn't need them or care about
them. It is to their credit that many of these children succeed
against such great odds.'
In 1 983 the National Science Board published a well
researched report, Educating Americans (or the 21 st Centur, pro
posing a plan of action with the grandiose goal of "improving
mathematics, science and technology education for all American
elementary and secondary students so that their achievement is
the best in the world by 1995." We know now that the goal is
utopian, but the contents of the report are quite down to earth. In
the section on quality education for all students, the document
discusses students of different races, students whose parents do
not speak English in the home, and students from disadvan
taged socioeconomic backgrounds: "Indeed, the low achievement
scores of a signifcant proportion of such students can be traced
directly to both blatant and subtle racial discrimination (includ
ing stereotyped racial atti tudes), extreme poverty, and, in some
cases, unsatisfactory rural or urban conditions,"2
72
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG TO WASTE ! "
All children, regardless of social class and racial or ethnic
origin, enter school with some mathematical knowledge, a de
sire to learn, and the ability to perform adequately. A study of
children in Baltimore concluded that black children and white
children entering frst grade have almost identical skills i n
computation and mathematical reasoning. The investigators ex
amined the effects of race, parent education, social class, kin
dergarten attendance, parent expectations, and family type
(one- or two-parent home). Parent expectation was the single
most important factor influencing children's achievement. Chil
dren whose parents expected that they would do well actually
scored signifcantly higher in math reasoning. Associated with
this factor was parent education. Children whose parents had
graduated from secondary school did better than children of
parents who had dropped out.' Since high school dropouts are
more likely to be poor, the connections are obvious.
Marsha (age 44) is fnally completing her last year of college.
She had avoided math for years after having had diffculty with
Algebra I. "My mother and father did not to go to high school, so
education was valued-to a point-but honest work was valued
more. My parents did not have advanced math so could not
understand its value to encourage me to learn more than what
was necessary to get by."
The experiences of a small group of African-American se
niors in a Chicago high school bring home vividly the effects of
poverty. Chosen on the basis of teacher recommendations to par
ticipate in a class for the gifted-their test scores were too low
for them to qualify on that basis-they must overcome innu
merable hurdles: "Where will I get the ffty cents for bus fare to
get to school tomorrow? Can we separate Elliot, the trigonome
try ace, from his street gang? Will Theo, the calculus whiz, get
into a college that will also accept his girlfriend and their
baby?" These young people must face the hostility and resent
ment of their peers for being different. Most of their parents are
high school dropouts, eager to have their children continue their
education, but with little know-how about the requirements.'
Young African Americans in Memphis public housing ex
pressed their resentment about the diffculties they face. A
ffteen-year-old student spoke about her high school: "Other
schools call it a 'project school . ' They say stuff like we can't go
anywhere without a police escort. They call us 'at risk.' When
7 3
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG TO WASTE ' "
The Rich Get Richer, the Por Get Porer
How would you like to receive an annual income of $99.6
million' True, that sum was shared by two men in 1 990,
the chief executives of Time Warner, and it includes
stock options as well as cash. Life had not always been so
good to the bosses. In 1 975 they were making about
thirty-five times the salary of the average worker. By
1 989 the ratio had climbed to 120 to I . While executive
pay was soaring in the 1980s, the wages of manufactur
ing workers, after adjustment for inflation, declined by
about 1 0 percent.
You might want to compare your annual income to the
$50,000,000 bonanza received by each Time Warer
chief executive offcer. Be sure to include all the zeros,
the most important part of the number.
To sharpen the impact of the statistics about wealth in
our country, imagine that the entire population of the
United States can be represented by one hundred people.
Of these one hundred folks, at least forty at the lower
income end suffered declining earnings during the pe
riod 1 977-1 989. In 1 989 the richest person-just one
person of the hundred-had an income of close to one
half trilion dollars, equal to all the federal tax revenues.
This fact inspired Cornell University economist Robert
Avery to joke: "If they [the richest one percent] are taxed
at 100 percent, everybody else can be taxed at zero."
(Steve Lohr, "Recession Puts a Harsh Spotlight on Hefty
Pay of Top Executives, " New York Times, 20 January 1992,
AI ; Sylvia Nasar, "The 1980's: A Very Good Time for the
Very Rich," New York Times, 5 March 1 992, AI .)
they stick these tags on us, we end up doing exactly what they
want us to do: fail. But I' m not at risk. I'm not going to fai l . "
The principal of this school works overtime to help her stu
dents succeed. "We're in an area that is terribly economically
depressed. Our kids aspire to the same things that other stu
dents aspire to. But some of them don't know how to get there.'"
7 4
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG TO WASTE I "
WoM and Math: The Influence of Family and
the Community
Why are many American women lacking in confdence in their
ability to do math? Not only American women, but British, Aus
tralian, and others-but not all women. In a society that be
lieves in women's innate inferiority when it comes to doing
math, the very air they breathe tells girls to give up. Many fac
tors have contributed to this lack of confdence. Although girls
have been doing better in recent years-in fact, on most mea
sures outside of the SATs, girls perform as well as boys-women
who are now adults have been strongly infuenced away from
mathematics.
Much of the research on women cited in the next few pages
pertains to white females.' Latina, African-American, Asian
American, and American Indian women may have had quite
different experiences, as their stories will reveal .
Girls start out ahead of boys i n talking, reading, and count
ing. In elementary school they perform better in computation,
and they earn equal or better grades at all levels. Yet boys and
girls have different experiences at home, in school, and in the
wider world, a difference that becomes crucial in their future
choices.
Many parents expect boys to be aggressive, self-confdent,
and independent, while girls are socialized to be docile, well
behaved, and dependent. Young boys have all sorts of toys that
encourage exploration and problem solving-sets of blocks,
chemistry and construction sets, games and puzzles. Video
games, television, and flms portray aggressive male fgures and
passive female fgures that serve as role models for youngsters.
Boys are more likely to engage in athletics, an excellent way to
develop spatial ability. They spend more time with homecomput
ers, and are sent to summer computer camps. Older boys learn to
work with machines, repair cars, and use a variety of tools. All
these experiences develop spatial and other mathematical skills,
as well as confdence in the ability to work independently.
Girls, on the other hand, learn housekeeping and nurturing
skills as they play with dolls and help in the house. Of course,
sewing and cooking require skill in measuring and counting, but
these "feminine" accomplishments are rarely considered mathe
matical . Increasingly, girls are engaging in athletic activities
7 5
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG TO WASTE ! "
Barbie Dll Fear Math
Teen Talk Barbie put her foot in her mouth when she was
programmed to say: "Math class is tough, " one of four
phrases randomly selected from a total of 270. This is just
the message that little girls should not be hearing. Mattei
Inc. was soon flooded with complaints from math teach
ers, women's organizations. and parents. Nor were the
media silent. " Educators Give Barbie a Good Dressing
Down" wrote the Wall Street Joural (25 September 1992),
ever mindful of sales volume.
MatteI's offer to exchange the offending doll for a differ
ent Barbie did not appease the opposition. Finally Mattei
withdrew "Math class is tough" from the list of phrases. In
a letter to the American Association of University Women,
sponsor of the report describing how schools shortchange
girls, the president (female) of Mattei wrote: "We didn't
fully consider the potentially negative implications of
this phrase, not were we aware of the fndings of your
organization's report." (Kevin Sullivan, "Foot-in-Mouth
Barbie, " Washington Post, 30 September 1 992, AI ; "Teen
Talk Barbie Turns Silent on Math," New York Times, 2 1
October 1 992, 04.)
like baseball, soccer, and karate, and these activities may be
contributing to their improved performance in math.
A long-term study of 1 ,500 children from seventh grade
through high school revealed that parents have a strong effect
on their children's attitudes toward mathematics. In particular,
mothers tended to consider math diffcult for their daughters,
and discouraged them from taking advanced courses.' These
parents may have encouraged their daughters to develop a trait
that psychologists call "learned helplessness, " as exemplifed by
Harriet.
Harriet's story is told by her college math instructor. Before
she even looked at a problem, Harriet was convinced that she
couldn't handle it. "Frantically she sought help from anyone
who would listen to her. She admitted asking more than a half
76
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G T O WASTE ! "
dozen people for help on one problem." She fnally began to
make some progress when her instructor convinced her to come
to her, and to no one else, for help.'
A study in the Montgomery County (Maryland) public schools
found that many of the sexist beliefs and attitudes about girls and
math still persist among parents, students, and school personnel,
although not quite to the same degree as previously.' Similar
fndings from other parts of the United States and for several
foreign countries were reported at the International Congresses
on Mathematics Education in 1 988 and 1 992.
How often have mothers, more than fathers, told me: "Oh,
well, I was never any good at math, either, " when I discussed
their daughters' diffculties in math class. A generation ago that
may have been an acceptable comment. Why would they need
math, when they would only marry and raise children?
In contrast to the experience of white females, black women
expected to go to work. Mathematics professor Vivienne Malone
Mayes put it plainly: "Whereas many white women were simply
expected to be homemakers dependent upon a providing male,
black girls have been conditioned to work. Every girl expected to
work hard in her life. In the ffties and sixties, education provided
black women a hope that they could escape the low-paying jobs
traditionally designated for them."1
0
And if these goals included the study of mathematics, why
not? Men, on the other hand, could fnd employment in union
ized industries and earn good wages without having to acquire
higher education. But such jobs are fast disappearing. Today
young men of color are likely to join the military as a way to
acquire the education they could not otherwise afford.
It's easy for a young woman to blame Mom in the face of
diffculty. When Kate (age 23), a registered nurse, enrolled in the
math courses required for a degree in pharmacology, her old fear
of math resurfaced. "Well, my mother's weakest subject is math,
too, so I guess I got that from her."
Marion (age 40) claims that her mother was a determining
factor in her career decision. "I think the message was clear
from my mother that what I really needed was a line of work
that would allow me to take care of a family." Although she
does need mathematics in her work-as an editor she is called
upon to do calculations concerning layout-she solves that
problem either by ignoring it or by getting someone else to do
77
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE I "
What Are the Odds That a Woman Will Marr?
Studies and surveys frequently are biased, proving what
ever the researcher or funder may want to prove. Even for
valid studies, research fndings may be misinterpreted to
apply more widely than the investigators had intended.
The media may publicize the conclusions, particularly
if they border on the sensational, without giving ade
quate background information. The consequences may
be disastrous!
Mental health professionals reported instances of
women rushing into unsuitable marriages and men abus
ing their wives after the media had publicized in 1986 the
unpublished fndings of a Yale-Harvard study called
" Marriage Patterns in the United States. " The study,
leaked to the press by one of the authors, predicted the
likelihood of marriage for single, white, college-educated
women: 20 percent at age thirty, 5 percent at age thirty
fve, and only one percent for forty-year-olds. For black
women the probabilities of marriage were even lower.
Newswek and People went so far as to feature the mar
riageability story on their covers.
But a Census Bureau researcher, Jeanne Moorman,
used similar data to reach entirely different conclusions:
58-66 percent likelihood for thirty-year-01ds, and corre
spondingly higher fgures for older women than those
reported by the Yale-Harvard team. Her report was virtu
ally ignored by the media, and Moorman herself was
censored by her superiors.
The statistical techniques and assumptions of "Mar
riage Patterns" were highly suspect. Sampling was re
stricted to women born in the mid-1 950s, and women
over the age of thirty were not included in the sample, an
amazing admission for a study that purports to deal
with older women as well as thirty-year-olds. Divorced
women and widows were excluded. Nor did the study
differentiate between women who wanted to marry and
those who chose not to do so, for whatever reasons.
(Colltinued)
7 8
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE ' "
What Ar the Odds That a Woman Will Mar?
(contnued)
The Yale-Harvard study fnally appeared in a profes
sional journal in 1 989, The analysis of marriageability
that had attracted so much attention was omitted com
pletely from the publication; the researchers claimed
that it was "a distraction from their central fndings,"
(Andree Brooks, "Relationships: When Studies Mislead,"
Ne York Times, 29 December 1986, B14; Susan Faludi,
Backlash: The Undeclared War against American Women
[New York: Crown Publishers, 1 99il, 9-14, )
it. Marion's feelings about math are decidedly negative, but
they have not prevented her from holding responsible positions
handling large sums of money, ''I'm good at figuring out what
things will cost and how we will pay for them, I attribute this
to my mother's having taught me to be a good money manager,
rather than to any ease with fgures," Evidently Marion consid
ers "being a good money manager" and being "at ease with
fgures" as unrelated accomplishments!
Contrast Marion's experiences with that of a young woman
today, At the age of ffteen, Stacie has already decided to follow
in her father's footsteps, He is an Air Force pilot, her grandfather
is an engineer, and she plans to become an astronaut. "My
mother doesn't like the idea, neither do my grandmothers, My
father, grandfather, and everyone else think it's a great idea,"
Two children raised in the same family can have entirely dif
ferent experiences, Rona (age 40) wrote that her older sister was
the "brain" in the family, while little Rona was expected to be
sweet and adorable, By the time Rona entered high school, she
had established "a successful pattern of failure, " to use her de
scription, Fortunately for her, she encountered a geometry
teacher who insisted that every student learn the concepts, and
not merely memorize the material. To her great surprise, Rona
found that she could actually learn math, She wrote, "It is harder
not to understand," She began to reevaluate her self-concept.
"This can be quite a threat." Now she teaches math in a junior
7 9
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG TO WASTE ! "
Women Delay Having Childrn and
Avoid Marage
" More women these days are reaching age thirty child
less than in the past several decades. Yet, fertility levels
gradually rose during the 1980s, with the number of an
nual births reaching their highest levels since the close
of the baby boom. How could this be?"
The Census Bureau asked this question, and gave the
answer. More women are having their frst children after
they have passed the age of thirty. In 1976 only one
woman out of fve who had not given birth by the age of
thirty expected that she would have children in the fu
ture. By 1 990 the number had risen to two out of fve.
During the 1 980s the proportion of women who were i n
their thirties rose. Add on the births to women under the
age of thirty. The result is an increase in the birth rate.
Another interesting bit of information from the Cen
sus Bureau concerns single motherhood. In the old
days, 1 960-1964 to be precise, over half of unmarried
women who were pregnant with their frst child had
married before the child was bor. But by the late
1 980s, only one out of four women in that situation
opted for marriage. Evidently they preferred going i t
alone t o entering an unstable and possibly hurtful mar
riage. ("More Women Are Having Children Later," Cen
sus and You 27 [February 1 992]: 7-8; "More Women
Choosing Single Motherhood," Census Bureau news re
lease CB91 329, 4 December 1 991 .)
high school, trains other teachers, and develops the math curricu
lum. She and her former geometry teacher are justifably proud!
From childhood Carol (age 44) has always enjoyed math, but
not necessarily for the obvious reasons. Her perfectionist par
ents imbued her with the need to be just as perfect as they. Math
satisfed that need. "You can always improve on an English com
position, but in math, when you're right, you're right." English
prevailed, and Carol became a librarian.
8 0
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG T O WASTE I "
Research shows that girls begin to doubt their mathematical
ability about the time they enter the seventh grade. From their
own families, from the media, from school, they get the message
that math is for boys, that girls are not capable of doing ad
vanced mathematics or entering careers that require a mathe
matics background. (In the late eighties, young women were
catching up with men in the number of courses they took in high
school, due in part to tougher school standards.) Rarely do girls
see women as scientists or mathematicians.
This image of math as a "male domain" is so powerful as to
have a devastating effect on women's confdence in their ability
to do math. As the level of confdence drops, so does the level of
performance. Although girls continue to earn as good grades as
boys, if not better, in their math courses, they tend to believe
that they lack the ability necessary to take more advanced
courses. Girls who get good grades feel that they have eared
them by working hard, while boys attribute their success to
their superior ability. When a girl does poorly on a test, she
considers herself " dumb." A boy is likely to blame the teacher or
bad luck, or say that he "doesn't need any more math. "
Elsie (age 53) enjoys teaching gifted children in grades four
to six. She had started to "hate math with a passion" when she
missed some work in the course of changing schools. "The fur
ther I went the 'behinder' I got." In college she took a remedial
math class, where the professor let the students give themselves
their grades. "Naturally, all of us asked for an A. Never have I felt
right about that A . . . guilt seems to last."
The stereotype that "math is for boys" is held more strongly
by males than by females, but it may seriously influence girls' con
fdence in their ability to do mathematics. This lack of confdence
can affect even the brightest and highest-achieving women.
Marcia Sward is the executive director of the Mathematical
Association of America and an outstanding mathematician.
"[In high school] I always thought that the boys were a lot
smarter than I was." She graduated summa cum laude from a
women's college, where she had majored in mathematics. Grad
uate school was a great shock. "I suddenly discovered that
mathematics was regarded as a man's subject, and I lost some
of my self-confdence . . . . I wanted to get a Ph.D. But I had a
long way to go to develop the self-confdence that I could do i t. "
Of course, she did it. "
8 1
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG TO WASTE ' "
Luan Fear Math
Two math professors at Marymount College wrote to the
Gannett Newspapers to protest Greg Evans's stereotypes
about women and math i n his daily comic strip, "Lu
ann: for the week of 8-1 3 April 1 991 . The class nerd
offers to help Luann with her math homework, while she
confesses to feeling "stupid, frustrated, and sick to my
stomach: Luann is not only por in math, but she sees
no point in learning it. Then she makes a flippant re
mark about the purse holding the coins in the algebra
problem, and later gives up completely. In the last strip
she gives the "nerd" credit for her correct solutions.
The letter concluded: "We have been striving hard to
make our female students realize that they are just as
good as men in subjects requiring mathematical reason
ing, and that at least some of their 'math anxiety' has
been caused by the popular stereotype that math is not
suitable for women. Greg Evans has made our work
harder." (Doris Appleby and Maryam Hastings, "Girls
Stereotyped as Math-haters," Gannett Suburban News
papers, 5 May 1 991 , Letters.)
Women in science and engineering courses also suffer from
male sexist behavior. An instructor i n an engineering institute
heard a male student remark: "Those dumb girls don't know
one end of a resistor from the other." When the instructor inter
vened, the student objected: "But professor, that wasn't a sexist
remark! " In other words, he was just telling it as he saw it.
These male students took it for granted that they were to con
duct the experiments while the women merely took notes
carried out the role of secretary for which they were ftted by
nature." Is i t any wonder, then, that an adolescent girl might
be reluctant to be considered a "math brain" for fear that boys
will shun her, or even that she might be unable to attract a
husband in the future?
The attitude of male teachers can be devastating to young
women's self-confdence. Although Nora (age 52), a ffth-grade
8 2
A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE I "
Woono be
|ob

teacher, loved math in elementary school , and had "terrifc

teachers with high expectations and confdence in students'
abilities," her high school experience was very negative. The
teacher "was not interested in having girls in his math class. He
also had no confdence in girls' ability in math."
Anne (age 37) did so well that she made the junior high
school math team. But her i nterest in mathematics ended with
the male high school math teacher who ignored the girls in the
class, even when they raised their hands to volunteer answers.
She turned to creative writing as her career.
These males reflect an important aspect of their socialization,
that women's participation in and contributions to society have
little value. This attitude is rarely overcome without conscious
awareness and determined effort. Like the engineering student,
many men don't even know that they are guilty of sexism!
A study comparing young men and women about to enter
the university in Malaysia found no differences in either their
attitudes to mathematics or their performance in the mathemat
ics entry examination. In fact, on one question involving spatial
relations, women did better than men. Frank Swetz explains
these outcomes:
Modern science and technology are just beginning to es
tablish a presence in the country. Mathematics has not yet
8 3
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE I "
been culturally stereotyped as a male profession; thus,
apparently there are no sex-related biases associated
with it. Also in the traditional societies of Asia, Africa, and
Latin America, sex-role modeling may be more conducive
to familiarizing girls with mathematics and its uses than
in the West. In the Third World, women are frequently
small business entrepreneurs. Selling crafts and produce
in the markets, they become accustomed to using weights
and measures and undertaking calculations. In some of
these societies, women manage the family accounts and
actually own the family land. The weaving of geometric
patterns, whether in rattan floor mats, baskets, or cloth,
develops an appreciation for geometry in its forms. In
non-Western societies, weaving is women's work and part
of a young girl's training. The Malaysian girls sampled
appeared comfortable in problem-solving situations in
volving geometric manipulations and spatial visualiza
tion. Thus, it would seem that in Malaysia, and possibly
other non-Western societies, cultural and societal con
straints do not discourage women from participating
in mathematics and may even perhaps encourage their
participation. l )
Aldo (age 19) entered a community college in California after
his education in private schools in Asia. He thinks highly of
female mathematical aptitude: "My father is not good in math
but my mother is quite good. Moreover, my brother and my
sisters are much better than me in math courses,"
Akiko, a young Japanese woman studying at a community
college in Oregon, expresses a contrary view of school mathemat
ics. "[ studied math in Japan. As you know, Japanese math level
is very high because we have been studying math for nine years
constantly. Almost all of the students would fnish until college
algebra. In Japanese math system, students do not often use
calculators, and cannot use them on tests. The students also are
not given formulas. We have to remember all of them when we
take tests. In this situation, I did not like math because [ had to
remember many formulas. I did not like calculation, especially
easy ones. [ made many careless mistakes during calculat
ing . . . . My mother has a fear of math. Generally speaking, many
women have a fear of math."
8 4
- A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG T O WASTE ' -
African Market Women and Math
An article in Time magazine extolled the perspicacity of
the West African market women, who control much of the
transport and trades in textiles, food, and hardware i n
Ghana and Nigeria. Bankers i n Lagos tell of one woman
who cannot write her own name, but who can get a letter
of credit for 200,000 pounds ($560,000) whenever she
needs one. To quote one African journalist: "They can't
read or write, but they can damn well count. " (Quoted
from Claudia Zaslavsky, Africa Counts: Number and Pat
ter in African Culture [New York: Lawrence Hill Books,
1979], 224.)
Boys in American society are generally brought up to accept
a challenge, to experiment, to take risks, and not to fear making
mistakes. Girls, on the other hand, are taught to be more
passive-or call it better-behaved! They are cautious about at
tempting new tasks. They take time to consider all the alterna
tives before answering questions on tests, a trait which may be a
contributing factor to girls' lower scores on timed tests, in spite
of class grades in math that are equal, or even superior, to those
of boys.
Indeed, this cautious behavior may even help girls to earn
good grades. When I was a senior in high school, I entered a
contest for the trigonometry medal. Five boys and I sat for three
hours after school as we tackled ten tough problems. I was sure
that I hadn't won because I had solved no more than fve, while
the boys boasted of having done seven or eight. When the results
were announced, it turned out that I was the winner with fve
correct solutions!
Cultura Attituds an Mathmatics
Regardless of their own level of education, African-American
parents, perhaps even more than white parents of the same so
cial class, have high aspirations for their children and look to
85
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE ! "
education as the way for their children to gain upward mobility.
Dolores Spikes is a fne example.
Dr. Dolores Richard Spikes majored in mathematics, and is
now president of Southern University in Louisiana, the his
torically black institution from which she had received her
bachelor's degree. Her parents "believed education to be the key
to a ' better' life and career. " Her father worked overtime consis
tently to provide for his family's educational needs. "Even
among those with little formal education in my father's family,
there seemed to be a natural inclination towards mathematical
related interests." Dr. Spikes passes along these words of wis
dom for young people:
Students, even those who profess "not to like" mathemat
ics or "not to be good" at it, should not shy away from
school subjects involving mathematics. I recall that
everone in my [segregated] high school at the time of
my matriculation there took algebra and geometry. In
the end, even those who managed to earn only D's were
much more successful in later studies or career pursuits
than students who I note today avoided such subjects
prior to college or career, 1
4
Less research-in fact, very little-has been done with mem
bers of minority groups than with women to determine their
atti tudes toward mathematics. Much of the evidence I will cite
is anecdotal. Although African Americans, Native Americans,
and Latinos score lower than whites in standardized tests, their
scores have been rising, while those of whites have remained
stationary. Young black women are more likely than black men
to take advanced high school courses and to continue in college.
The opposi te is true of Hispanics; Latinas are more likely than
Latinos to drop out of math and school. Asian Americans have
the highest scores, higher than those of whites, and take the
most advanced math courses. Their verbal SAT scores are far
lower than their math SAT scores, probably an indication that a
considerable number of Asian test takers did not grow up in the
United States.I
S
Unfortunately, many young minority people don't under
stand how mathematics can be useful for their future jobs or
college careers. For a multitude of reasons, they fail to take the
8 6
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G T O WASTE ' "
Women as the Firt Mathematicians
Women were the frst mathematicians ever! So claims
Dena Taylor in an article entitled "The Power of Men
struation" (Mothering 58 [Winter 1 991 ) : 41 ) : "The cycli
cal nature of menstruation has played a major role in the
development of counting, mathematics, and the measur
ing of time . . . . Lunar markings found on prehistoric
bone fragments show how early women marked their
cycles and thus began to mark time."
Let's review some of the evidence. In my book Africa
Counts: Number and Paller in African Culture, I wrote
about the Ishango bone. This incised bone, discovered
in the 1950s on the shore of Lake Edward in north
eastern Zaire, was originally described as a record of
prime numbers and doubling (perhaps a forerunner of
the ancient Egyptian system of multiplication by dou
bling). Alexander Marshack later concluded, on the ba
sis of his microscopic examination, that it represented a
six-month lunar calendar.
The dating of the Ishango bone has recently been re
evaluated, from about 8000 B.C. to perhaps 20,000 B.C.or
earlier. Similar calendar bones, dating back as much as
30,000 years, have been found in Europe. Thus far the
oldest such incised bone, discovered in souther Africa
and having twenty-nine incisions, goes back about 37,000
years.
Now, who but a woman keeping track of her cycles
would need a lunar calendar? When I raised this ques
tion with a colleague, he suggested that early agricul
turalists might have kept such records. However, he
was quick to add that women were probably the frst
agriculturalists. They discovered cultivation while the
men were out hunting. So, whichever way you look at
it, women were undoubtedly the frst mathematicians!
(Adapted from Claudia Zaslavsky, "Women as the First
Mathematicians," Women and Mathematics Education
News/eller 14 [Fall 1991): 4. )
8 7
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE ! "
high school math courses that will prepare them for the careers
of their choice."
Bob, an African American, is a good example. He was per
suaded to enroll in my Algebra I class in his senior year in high
school , as a prerequisite for his planned career in electronics.
But he was too preoccupied with weekend dates as a lead singer
with a rock band to spend much time or thought on math. A few
months after graduation Bob came back to visit. "You were
right," he told me, as though he had made a great discovery. "I
really do need algebra for my electronics courses! "
I had the opportunity to survey seventh- and eighth-grade
students i n a magnet (specialized) school for mathematics and
science. Of the ninety students, thirty-nine were Latino and
thirty-six African American, approximately evenly divided be
tween boys and girls. In response to a question about future
careers, many chose felds that involved some math or science,
with two notable exceptions. Even in this specialized school, of
the eighteen black males, fve hoped to become professional ath
letes and one a rock star, while six of the twenty-two Latina girls
chose either traditionally female or glamorous roles, such as
secretary or ballerina.
It is not surprising that some African-American boys dream of
becoming athletes or rock stars, the visible models of successful
black males. Yale professor James Comer discusses the influences
that turn young black males against academic involvement.
One black youngster reported that he felt like a "turn
coat" because he took college algebra with the college
bound, mostly white, students while his buddies, mostly
black, were taking applied (for daily living) math. Oth
ers have reported that it was awkward or embarrassing
to be interested in math, science, or poetry, while most of
their friends were more interested in the latest recording
by "The Soul Singers" or "bouncing the basketball. " To
have academic interests in such an environment, a child
must go against the tide or stand alone (or with little
support) against the pressure of peers, neighbors, or the
subculture. When few parents or neighbors have jobs
requiring academic skills, there are few models to help
develop interest or competencies in these skills even
when peer pressure is not too great. 1 7
8 8
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G T O WASTE ! "
Jeff Howard attributes such negative behavior to the legacy
of centuries of racism, a legacy that still pervades American
society. Young blacks, especially males, have internalized the
stereotypes projected by the larger society and unconsciously
have come to believe in their own intellectual inferiority. How
ard teaches his Effcacy Model in many city schools, to "encour
age young blacks to attribute their intellectual successes to
ability (thereby boosting confdence) and their failures to lack
of effort."!'
The NAACP is countering the stigma on intellectual pursuits
by sponsoring the Afro-American Cultural, Technological and
Scientifc Olympics (ACT-SO). Sixteen-year-old Brian Hooker of
Atlanta was the 1986 winner of a gold medal in mathematics
and a silver medal in chemistry. Hooker remarked wisely: "Stu
dents around the nation are constantly reminded of the athletic
accomplishments of blacks, but those who are brilliant in the
academic felds rarely get that type of recognition.!'
Cultural factors may influence some young people to ex
clude mathematics from their plans. As a child growing up on
the Nez Perce Indian reservation in Idaho, Edna Lee Paisa no
loved mathematics and excelled in the subject. But she didn't
consider math appropriate as a college major. "Could I go back
and say to the tribe, 'I am a mathematician'?" She felt that she
had to enter a profession that would be useful to her people, and
at that time she couldn't see math as useful. Her choice was
sociology. Later, as the only full-time American Indian at the
national offce of the Census Bureau, she realized how important
it was for her people to know computer programming, statistics,
and demography. She designed a special questionnaire for the
1980 census which, for the frst time, gave adequate information
about American Indians and Alaskan Natives.20
Native American communities are badly in need of people
trained to work in such felds as health and energy resource
management. Mathematical competency holds the key to such
careers.
In Latin-American families attitudes about traditional gen
der roles may lead to differential upbringing of girls and boys.
Alberto (age 26), the pride and joy of his family, grew up i n
Colombia. But this very pride was hi s undoing. Always an A
student, he was sent to a top private high school, while his sis
ters attended public schools. In the frst semester of algebra he
8 9
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WAST E ! "
found the pace too fast, but was too embarrassed to admit it. He
had to uphold his reputation as an A student! Alberto got
through his math courses by memorizing the material. When he
failed the entrance exam for a New York City public college, he
was so shattered that he left. "I felt that I was retarded." Eventu
ally, after three remedial courses, he passed the exam. He attri
butes his success to the tutor who insisted that he use a pencil
without an eraser, so that he could analyze and learn from his
errors.
Latinos in the United States, like African Americans, may
have internalized subtle and not-so-subtle messages of inferior
ity from their teachers and the larger society. They have also
been victims of inadequate education." In a study of Latino
(mainly Mexican-American) undergraduates at a Texas univer
sity, about one-third were found to have very low levels of conf
dence in their math ability. Ranking highest on the "anxiety"
scale were females, older students, and prospective elementary
teachers. Although one-third of the students had taken no more
than Algebra I in high school and they had a poor understanding
of mathematical concepts, the majority said they liked math
and thought it was important for their future life." These stu
dents should have had a Jaime Escalante in their lives!
The subject of the 1988 flm Stand and Deliver, Escalante has
been doing the " impossible" since 1980, teaching Advanced
Placement Calculus to low-income Mexican-American students
at Garfeld High School in East Los Angeles. By 1987 Garfeld
ranked seventh in the nation in passing rates for the calculus
exam. Furthermore, the majority of these calculus students are
young women! Escalante expects his students to achieve at the
highest level, regardless of their previous course grades and test
scores, and inspires them with the desire to do well. Ganas
"the wish to succeed"-is his favorite word. He instills in the
students a pride in their Mexican mathematical heritage, telling
them that the Maya developed both the concept of zero and a
symbol for zero many centuries ago. The students work hard
early morning, evening, summer. With Escalante as an example,
the whole school has been turned around. Now there are few
dropouts, and most students plan to go to college."
Italian Americans, perhaps more than other white ethnic
groups, suffer from low self-esteem, reinforced by negative, anti
intellectual stereotypes in the media and alienating experiences
9 0
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G T O WASTE ! "
The Maya, Masters of Astrnomy
The ancient Maya inhabited southern Mexico and the
northern regions of Central America, where their mil
lions of descendants still live today. Two thousand years
ago they had developed writing, systems of numeration,
and advanced concepts of astronomy. Only in recent
years has their writing been deciphered, and we are learn
ing more about their culture as investigators translate
the few documents that escaped destruction by Spanish
conquistadors and missionaries, who considered them
"works of the devil. "
The Maya devised a positional numeration system
based on groups of twenty, and were possibly frst . . . to
invent symbols for zero. Many stone monuments, called
stelae, have dates of important events engraved upon
them. These dates refer to the various calendars by which
Maya priests and scribes (women as well as men) guided
the agricultural year, determined the times for ceremoni
al s, and marked the movements of the heavenly bodies.
The calendars were interrelated. Each day in the 260-
day ritual calendar was identifed with a number in a
cycle of thirteen and a name in a cycle of twenty (like our
numbered days of the month and named days of the
week). Each number and each name was associated with
a different deity. Meshing with this calendar was the 365-
day vague year, eighteen periods of twenty named days,
plus fve unnamed days. The frst day of the new year in
both calendars coincided every ffty-two years (seventy
eight ritual years).
To mark a major event, a stela might have a set of
numerals to show a Long Count, the number of days
that had elapsed since the onset of the current Great
Cycle, which we believe began in 3 1 1 4 B.C. In one in
stance a date one-and-a-quarter million years i n the past
was calculated. Other calendars dealt accurately with
the movements of the moon and the planet Venus. (Mar
cia Ascher, "Before the Conquest," Mathematics Maga
zine 65 [ 1 992]: 21 1-21 8. )
9 1
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE ' "
in school-"for many, it is more confrontational than educa
tional ! " In New York City about one in fve Italian-American
students doesn't fnish high school, the third-highest dropout
rate after Hispanics and blacks. Their working-class families
"take pride in working and bringing home a paycheck, as op
posed to bringing home intangible knowledge. It is an accepted
sign of adulthood," according to Douglas Blancero, director of a
youth agency. But without at least a high school diploma, the
jobs they seek may not be there for them ."
A great deal has been written about the " natural aptitude in
math" of Asian Americans. The attitude of east Asian parents,
both in the United States and in their home countries, is a signif
cant factor. They have high expectations for their children and
monitor their educational progress closely. They assume that all
children are capable of learning. If children are not performing
well, it means they just didn't try hard enough. High school
students devote many hours to school work; school is their full
time job."
In an article published in a high school students' newspaper,
Yuh-Yng Lee tells about her feelings and experiences.
Because I'm Chinese, my friends expect me to get high
grades in math and science. When I do, they say, "Of
course she got that, it's easy for her." For your informa
tion, Chinese kids are not all math and science whizzes.
It's not something in our genes. I don't know about other
Chinese kids, but I don't excel in math and if I get a good
grade (which isn't all the time), it's because I worked
hard for it.
The Chinese see education as the key to a good future,
and greater opportunities. That's the main reason many
Chinese parents come to America. My parents had com
fortable jobs in Taiwan and made a decent living. When
they came here, they had to take jobs waiting tables and
doing other manual work. They gave up good lives for
me and I often feel guilty for not living up to their expec-
tations . . . . All the same, sometimes when I'm home
studying . . . while my friends are out partying . . . I re-
sent my parents a 10t.2
6
9 2
- A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE !
Remember Akiko, brought up in Japan, and her comment
that many women fear math. Such remarks should help to de
stroy the stereotypes about innate mathematics ability.
Carer Ga
"Do I need math?" The answer to that question has often been
the determining factor in a high school student's choice as to
whether to take more math courses once the requirement has
been fulflled. Many young women do not have clearly defned
career goals when they are in high school. As a result, they fail to
take courses that turn out to be prerequisites for their college
majors and future careers. Those who do have defnite plans
generally orient their goals toward helping humanity and work
ing with people. They make the assumption-mistakenly-that
math is not necessary for these careers.
Mathematics is called the "critical flter" that excludes
people, especially women, from entering many professions. The
term is due to Lucy Sells, a California sociologist. In 1972 she
surveyed the entering class at the University of California at
Berkeley, and was shocked to fnd that 57 percent of the males
but only 8 percent of the females had taken enough high school
mathematics to qualify for most of the forty-four majors. With
out this math background, these young women were restricted
to such traditionally female, low-paying felds as elementary
education, guidance, and the humanities."
Lucy Sells's specialty is the analysis of female and minority
participation in mathematics and science courses. Her autobiog
raphy reveals that she experienced many of the negative factors
we have discussed-confusion resulting from missed classes in
elementary school, an extremely sexist male teacher i n high
school, a guidance counselor who told her she could drop math
because she would never need it, and no clear career goals in
college. Eventually she drifted into the graduate sociology
department. "I learned quickly of the dread statistics require
ment, which was the brick wall for doctoral candidates in the
social sciences and the school of education."
But Dr. Sells did not go under. The concluding paragraph of
her autobiography is truly inspirational:
93
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE ' "
I had a great professor, an even greater teaching assis
tant, with incredible patience, who helped me discover
that statistics was fun! I worked ver hard, attended all
of the volunteer lab hours, and got a L on the frst mid
term. I salvaged an A in the course, and got A's through
out the required advanced quantitative methods course
that had kept eight or ten otherwise brilliant grad stu
dents from taking their Orals exams. I went into the fnal
knowing that a Teaching Assistantship rested on cooling
the exam. For the frst two hours of the three hour exam,
my mind froze, and I couldn't make sense of the prob
lems. I fnally went to the rest room, got a drink of water,
and sat down and did the exam in the last hour, getting
an A
-
and the Teaching Assistantship. For me, the great
est joy of teaching statistics was to see puzzled faces
light up with understanding when they fnally got it. I
wish that joy for every teacher of things quantitative, as
well as for every student."28
Not only are women led to believe that math is "hard," but
they also associate it with the "hard sciences" like physics, and
with the applications of math and science in our society. Ruth
(age about 50) gives her impression of math and science as it is
practiced: "What I do know and can attest to is that mathemat
ics (and science) in this culture is undoubtedly perceived as a
function of the war machine, and it is bloody hard to convince a
smart girl or woman to go to war. "29
In a four-year study of "unlikely achievers from disadvan
taged backgrounds," Charles C. Harrington of Teachers College,
Columbia University, identifed the traits that these successful
people had in common. Foremost was internal control, the abil
ity to see themselves as in charge of their lives. This trait is
strongest among successful black women, who had to overcome
both racism and sexism to achieve their goals.3
0
Here are the
stories (in brief) of several women of color who use mathemat
ics and had to overcome tremendous hurdles to fulfll their
aspirations.
Eleanor Jones, now a professor of mathematics at Norfolk
State University, was prevented by the segregation laws of the
state of Virginia from pursuing doctoral studies i n that state.
She was, however, granted tuition and travel costs to study in
9 4
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG T O WAS T E I "
the North. While supporting her two small children, she earned
her doctoral degree in mathematics at Syracuse University in
1966.31
Many among my respondents displayed this trait of internal
control. Daniela (age 2 1 ), a mathematics major, was about to
graduate from a historical l y black university at the time she
completed her math autobiography. Accelerated in high school
mathematics, she took Algebra II in tenth grade. "I was the only
black in my class. It made learning the material a job, since I
talked to no one in the class." By twelfth grade she was taking a
college-level course. "Everyone made math seem so complex
and the material insurmountable! " she said.
As a girl growing up in Puerto Rico, Carmen Gautier loved
math and science. But such interests were not for Puerto Rican
girls in the 1 940s. "I used to ask my teachers if I could take trigo
nometry. They told me girls don't need to take that. I was ad
vanced in chemistry, but they told me girls can't take physics."
Undaunted, she went on to earn a doctorate in political economy,
a feld requiring a considerable knowledge of mathematics. Now
she is director of the Social Science Research Center of the Univer
sity of Puerto Rico, teaches at the university, and writes in defense
of Puerto Rico's land, people, and resources."
The early life of Helen Nealy Cheek, a Chocktaw (Native
American) mathematics educator, gave little indication of her
future success. A high school dropout, she was a divorced
mother of two children at the age of 2 1 . She returned to high
school and continued her education while working and teaching
elementary school on an Indian reservation and elsewhere. At
the age of 43 she earned her doctorate in elementary and Indian
education at Oklahoma State University. The author of many
articles, recipient of awards, leader of numerous professional
organizations, she was particularly interested in equality for
women and Native Americans.
In her teaching she demonstrated the interrelationships be
tween patterns in life and patterns in mathematics, using design
in beadwork, basketry, and patchwork to i llustrate mathemati
cal concepts. She taught mathematically based Native games to
children while she engaged their parents and grandparents in
various mathematical activities, a form of Family Math. Her
death from cancer in 1 985 at the age of 48 was a keenly felt
loss."
9 5
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE I "
Asians, whether born abroad or in the United States, are
most likely of all groups to take advanced math and choose
quanti tative majors in college. According to researcher Sau-Lim
Tsang, "There is no research support for the hypothesis that
Asian Americans have a high level of innate mathematical abil
ity." Sociological factors play a signifcant role. Many Asians
coming to this country are well-established engineers and scien
tists, while others came as students and decided to remain. They
make a point of investing in their own and their children's educa
tion, to offset discrimination and to obtain upward mobility.
Recent immigrants choose to study mathematics and science,
subjects that don't demand profciency in English.'4 And the
jobs are there for the asking. As young electrical engineer Hai
Van Vu put i t: "I came here ten years ago from a small village in
Vietnam + . . . I had a problem with language-but not with
mathematics! The symbolic notations of math were a universal
language I could understand as well as anyone. I could compete!
Patience and concentration in math and science gave me entry
into a fascinating feld . . . I knew that after four years of col
lege, if I did well, I was almost guaranteed a job-a good job.""
Te Computer Se
Technology is rapidly changing both the educational scene and
the workplace. The gap between the "have-computers" and the
"have-nots" results in some people being left out of the picture.
Those people are generally women, people of color, and working
class.
Men tend to take over in a learning situation that involves
both sexes. At a computer workshop for elementary teachers, I
introduced the basic aspects of computer programming, using
as an example the game of tic-tac-toe. The group consisted of ten
women and one man, but that one man, obviously experienced
with computers, dominated the scene, calling out answers to all
the questions I posed before the women had a chance to think.
Finally I had to remind him that everyone deserved the opportu
nity to participate.
If a grown man, a teacher at that, can't resist the chance to
show how smart he is, then imagine the situation in an elemen
tary classroom. The school has just acquired several comput
ers. Although some teachers were able to enroll in a course
9 6
- A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WAS T E ! -
organized by the school district, there was no space for Ms.
Brown this semester. She hopes to take the course next term,
but meanwhile the computer sits in her classroom. She asks
who has a computer at home and can show the class how it
works. Jimmy volunteers. Naturally, the boys flock to watch
Jimmy's demonstration and, perhaps, to share their own experi
ences, while the girls feel left out. And so begins a new round of
fear and anxiety.
Boys, more than girls, have home computers and work with
them, go to computer camps and after-school programs, play
video games (girls tend to reject them as too violent and competi
tive), and look forward to careers involving computers. To make
matters worse, computer ads have usually addressed their mes
sage to boys.
This may be changing as computer companies realize that
women, too, are capable. Now it' s the older people who are
maligned. According to an item in the Buletin of the American
Association of Retired Persons (AARP), an ad showing a young
woman at a keyboard has her saying about her mother: "She
still thinks software is a nightgown." The author went on to
discuss the involvement of older people with the computer cul
ture. As just one example, the University of Miami is offering a
course called: "How to talk computers with your grandkids."3
6
It was a woman who originated the whole feld of computer
programming-Lady Ada Byron Lovelace ( 1 81 5-1 852), daugh
ter of the poet Lord Byron and amateur mathematician Anna
bella Millbanke. In 1834 Charles Babbage designed a machine
he called the "analytical engine," a forerunner of the modern
computer in spirit, although it was never built. Ada, Countess of
Lovelace, translated from French into English a paper describ
ing the functioning of the analytical engine. In the course of the
translation she added so much new material that she is now
credited as the world's frst computer programmer.
Ada Lovelace signed her work with only her initials
women at that time did not write technical papers! For nearly
ninety years after her death, her work was completely neglected.
In fact, the frst computers, produced in the early 1940s, would
have been far more effcient if the principles she set down had
been followed. Her ideas were rediscovered around 1950 by sev
eral mathematicians. The computers developed at that time
used punched cards, just as Lady Lovelace had described.
9 7
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I NG TO WAST E ! "

6'). JW
^ FIlIJf.S.--HoJd [fUlll of
(2 . Z . 3) h. ur lIDu. VZ (
I n l 1xI$_ work 26
nm ;(
lhruh tht: illst l. worild
fir.'t frill. " 'ork 41 (4t :
Punched cards are now a thing of the past, but Lady Lovelace's
name lives on in the advanced computer language called ADA."
The business world is profting from women's inventiveness.
In the late 1 950s Rear Admiral Grace Hopper originated a sys
tem that permitted the programmer to feed into the computer
9 8
" A MI N D I S A T E R R I B L E T H I N G TO WASTE ! "
English words instead of symbols, thus making the machine
more user friendly. Subsequently her ideas were developed into
COBOL, the most widely used computer business language, by a
team in which Jean Sammet and other women played a promi
nent role. Sammet was also heavily involved in the development
of the language ADA."
Everyone-young, old, male, female, of all racial/ethnic
backgrounds, can learn this vital technology. All they need is the
opportunity!
99
CHAPTER F I VE

Our School
Are Foun Wanting
It was characteristic of my parohial education to be dis
couraged-actively discouraged-from questioning. Starting
with religion frst thing in the morning. we were to accept
what we were told. How did this affect math learning? There
was one right way to do things; one right way to think. . . .
[In college] I remember being in an anthropology course I'd
actively sought to initiate and organize, along with two other
classmates. We wanted a course on critical thinking, develop
ing thinking skills. The professor who agreed to teach the
course began the frst class with a problem, the response to
which decided for him who were the A students and who were
all the rest. The problem turned out to be an Algebra word
problem, and familiar to those who'd had Algebra. Major set
back in my esteem and confdence. Dissatisfaction at this def
ciency planted another seed. I wanted to lear and stop feeling
so inadequate mathematically.
-Mary JOCittadino, Mathematics Educator,
EQUALS, University o{Cali{oria at Berkeley
Maria was a college student with an all-consuming, burning
desire to teach. As a Puertorriqueia, she knew how it felt to be a
Spanish-speaking child in a country where everyone was ex
pected to speak English. To help youngsters who were in the
same situation, she organized classes in her church to tutor chil
dren in reading and other school work.
Imagine Maria's frustration when she learned that only 16
percent of her answers were correct in the sixth-grade-Ievel
arithmetic test administered as part of my college course on
teaching elementary school mathematics. A resident of that dev
astated section of New York City known as the South Bronx, she
had failed frst-year algebra in the local high school. When she
failed a second time, her teacher said, "You're a nice girl, Maria,
and I know that you try hard. I' ll pass you, but promise not to
1 0 0
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WA N T I N G
take any more math." No doubt he thought he was helping Ma
ria by granting her "social promotion." It turned out to be no
favor.
Fortunately for Maria and other students i n her predica
ment, the college had just opened a tutoring laboratory. By the
end of the semester she had raised her score on the required
arithmetic test to 50 percent. Although she had tripled her origi
nal grade, she passed the course with a defciency in arithme
tic. Undaunted, she continued to develop her skills until she
had mastered the subject . If only she had received help years
before, she might have been spared the terrible disappointment
of failure.
Maria represen ts a success story. She wen t on to become
one of the all too few Hispanic teachers in the United States. A
national study found that 45 percent of Mexican-American and
Puerto Rican youths never complete high school . although their
aspirations are as high as those of other groups.! Overall the
dropout-some critics say pushout-rates are more than three
times as high for poor children of all groups as for affuent
children.'
Maria's experiences with school mathematics exemplify
the faults described in a 1983 report by the National Science
Board Commission on Precollege Education in Mathematics,
Science and Technology. It stated that although "virtually ev
ery child can develop an understanding of mathematics, sci
ence and technology if appropriately and skillfully introduced
at the elementary, middle and secondary levels, . . . substantial
portions of our population still suffer from the consequences
of racial, social and economic discrimination, compounded by
watered standards, 'social promotion: poor guidance and to
ken efforts.'"
Mark (age 23) works as a receiving clerk while attending
college. He relates his high school experience: "I took three math
courses, failed one, and received straight D's through the rest of
them. Of course, the school just moved me on ahead anyway,
regardless of my grades. I now realize that my skills are lacking
in mathematics, and I am enrolled in a review math course at
the university." Mark knows that "social promotion," in the long
run, only held him back.
In a dramatic speech during her tenure as Hunter College
president, Donna Shalala called for fundamental, systemic
1 0 1
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG
reform of the entire New York City public school system. In
colorful language, often quoted since, she declared: "I believe
the barrel is rotten, not the apples. We have allowed a rigid,
inflexible, dehumanizing educational system to develop, a sys
tem that works successfully too few times. It is that system I call
the rotten barrel. The apples, of course, are the children, the
teachers and the administrators.' Although she was speaking
about New York City, her condemnation might apply to many
large city systems.'
For a select few, New York City schools are superb. In 1988,
122 of the 300 semifnalists in the annual Westinghouse Science
Talent Search were seniors in New York public schools, over half
from two selective schools from which have come Nobel laure
ates and top-level professionals in science, mathematics, and
other felds. Several local communities have established magnet
schools and alternative schools that serve their students well.'
Our educational system is a reflection of our society. We
produce a well-trained scientifc elite comprising mainly white
middle- and upper-class males, while the rest of the population
is left behind.
In the past, few voices were heard on issues of educational
equity. One such voice was that of the noted African-American
scholar Doxey Wilkerson. In a 1939 report he claimed that the
differences in scholastic achievement between blacks and whites
resulted from schooling, not from any inherent biological defect
in African Americans. He called upon the federal government to
"reverse the process and become an instrument of positiveeduca
tional changes that would correct basic inequities within the
society."7
Few heeded his words at the time. Blacks, for the most
part, were relegated to low-paying jobs requiring little educa
tion. Today the situation is different. For many and varied
reasons, our society has become aroused. The slogan now is
"equity and excellence."
Why has the educational system failed to serve so many
people? Why do most of our children rank so low in mathemati
cal achievement, compared with children in other countries?
Let's look at our schools, with their inadequate funding, seg
regation, discriminatory practices, and poorly trained teachers.
How these factors affect fear and avoidance of mathematics
1 0 2
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WA N T I N G
should become clear as we discuss the inequities and shortcom
ings of our educational establishment.
School: Segregation and Funding
When you see a newspaper article about segregated schools, it
usually refers to schools i n which children of color are the major
ity of the student body. Equally segregated are those schools,
generally located in the wealthier suburbs, that serve primarily
white children. Both populations are shortchanged, but in differ
ent ways. In most large city public school systems, so-called
" minorities" constitute the majority of the students. Almost half
of African Americans in the North attend all-"minority" schools,
compared with only one quarter of black students in the South,
the part of the country where the schools are now the most inte
grated. Segregation of Hispanic students has been increasing i n
recent years. Even in those districts that have taken steps to
ward desegregation, segregated local schools and tracks within
schools result in schooling that is separate and unequal.' Stu
dents in many rural districts and small towns are also victims of
segregation '
A school that serves children of color may be of the highest
quality. Garfeld High in East Los Angeles, discussed in the previ
ous chapter, is a shining example of excellence. Another example
is Dunbar High School in Washington, D.C., established in 1 870
as the frst public high school for blacks in the United States.
Until it became a neighborhood school in the 1950s, Dunbar at
tracted the best and brightest black students from all parts of the
country. Among its illustrious alumni were Dr. Charles Drew, who
devised the method for storing blood plasma, and Dr. Evelyn
Boyd Granville, one of the frst two African-American women to
earn a doctorate in pure mathematics,lO
A current example is A. Philip Randolph Campus High
School, on the grounds of the City College of New York. Mostly
black and Latino, entrants are chosen at random by computer
from thousands of applicants. Half of the students come from
poor families. Not only do they take eight academic classes ev
ery day, but some choose extra sessions in specialties such as
engineering and medicine, in addition to mandatory math and
science. Almost every graduate goes on to college.1
1
1 0 3
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG
But these are exceptions. For the most part, schools in which
the student body is composed mainly of people of color are infe
rior schools, through no fault of the students or their families.
The brilliant playwright Lorraine Hansberry told of the sub
standard education she received i n a segregated Chicago elemen
tary school:
One result . . . is that to this day I cannot count prop
erly . . . . To this day I do not add, subtract, or multiply
with ease. Our teachers, devoted and indifferent alike,
had to sacrifce something to make the system work at all,
and in my case i t was arithmetic which got put aside most
often. Thus, the mind which was able to grasp university
level reading materials in the sixth and seventh grades
had not been suffciently exposed to elementary arithme
tic to make even simple change in a grocery store. This is
what we mean when we speak of the scars, the marks that
the ghettoized child carries through life."
In some cities, such as Louisville, Kentucky, and Charlotte,
North Carolina, where court-ordered busing is strongly en
forced, school integration is working and has even led to residen
tial integration. In northern cities, on the other hand, where
housing segregation leads to school segregation, there is little or
no effort to desegregate the schools. In the Chicago, Boston, and
New York public schools, only about one child in fve is white,
although the proportion of whites in the general population is
much higher. Many white parents choose to send their children
to private or parochial schools. "
A reader of the 3 June 1987 issue of Education Week would
have been shocked by a photograph of a class held in a wash
room of a Bronx (New York) school, with a toilet clearly visible.
Not only are the New York City schools overcrowded, but the
existing buildings are in a terrible state of disrepair. Robert
Wagner, who was then the Board of Education president, com
mented, in reference to the deplorable condition of a high school
formerly attended by whites, "Now it is Hispanic and black, and
who cares? What a signal that sends."l4
New York City is just one example of a situation that afflicts
many large cities, and crumbling buildings are just one symp
tom of general deterioration.
1 0 4
O U R S C H OOL S ARE F OU N D WANT I NG
The Penalty for Segregation
In 1985 a Federal judge ruled that Yonkers, New York,
had intentionally discriminated against African Ameri
cans in housing and education. The city agreed to end
school segregation, but the City Council refused to go
along with the court order to build integrated low- and
middle-cost housing in predominantly white areas. In
1988 Judge Leonard B. Sand declared that the city was
to be fned for every day that it refused to comply with
the order. The fne of $1 00 was set for August 2, 1988, and
doubled every day thereafter.
Here is the sum that failure to comply would cost the
city of Yonkers:
Da Dail fne
$1 00
2 200
3 400
4 800
5 1 ,600
6 3,200
7 6.400
22 209,71 5,200
Cumulative fnes
$ 1 00
300
700
1 ,500
3, 1 00
6,300
1 2.700
41 9,430,300
As you can see, the fnes mounted at an astronomical
rate. By the twenty-second day the total sum would have
exceeded the city's annual budget of $337 million. How
ever, on the seventh day the U.S. Court of Appeals sus
pended the sentence, and later ruled that the daily fne
was not to exceed one million dollars per day. With this
threat hanging over them, the four recalcitrant City
Council members gave in and agreed to a desegregation
plan. ("Yonkers: The Cost of Defance," Ne York Times,
27 August 1988, 28.)
1 0 5
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F OU ND WANTI NG
When I was thinking about writing this book, I started to
collect articles about funding for education. Jonathan Kozol's
powerful 1991 book, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's
Schools, made my collection superfluous. The book opens with
a look at the devastated schools of East SI. Louis, Illinois, the
most distressed small city in the country, where raw sewage
flows into basements and fumes from local chemical plants
poison the air. These same chemical companies have incorpo
rated their own town so that they do not have to pay taxes to
support the schools of East SI. Louis, a city whose population
is almost 100 percent black. In contrast, a high school in the
predominantly white suburban town of Winnetka, Illinois, sits
on twenty-seven acres and offers a wealth of courses, comput
ers, guidance services, and athletics.
Kozol writes about the Bronx, New York, school located in a
former skating rink on a business street, where an elevated train
runs past every few minutes. The building has no windows, and
there is no sign on the outside to indicate that it houses a school .
Several years ago I gave an in-service course at that school on
the subject of "Multicultural Mathematics Education." An ethni
cally diverse group of Bronx teachers sat in a stuff room for two
hours after hectic days with their own classes. They turned out
to be the most creative and enthusiastic class I have ever worked
with!
Commentator Anna Quindlen also visited this windowless
Bronx school. In her column, "Without Windows" (New York
Times, 1 6 December 1992), her indignation is clear. "You lear
your worth from the way you are treated, " she writes. "The chil
dren at P.S. 291 learn that they barely deserve oxygen . . . . And yet
we assume they will magically develop a sense of the dignity of
humanity. When they are grown-up disappointments, in trouble
oron welfare, we wonder what went wrong . . . . We have a system
that discriminates against the poor in everything from class size
to curriculum. Universal school is a myth, a construct of our
egalitarian imagination."
Kozol fnds that schools are now more separate and more
unequal than they were twenty-fve years ago. Funding from
local sources is based on property taxes. A community with a
wealthy tax base can afford funding for the kind of education
that all students deserve. As a result, a suburban district may
spend fve to ten times as much per student as a nearby city
1 06
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WA NT I NG
school . Attempts to equalize spending among districts within a
state are based on the "Robin Hood" approach-take from the
wealthy to give to the poor, a solution that rich districts resist
with all their might and power. "
Meanwhile, the federal share of funding for education fell
from 9 percent to 6 percent during the 1 980s. According to an
article in The Nation, "Among the top nineteen industrial na
tions, the United States ranks seventeenth in public spending
for education, and dead last in compensation of teachers. The
United States is also the only major industrial nation to pro
mote a radically inequitable school-fnancing system based on
local property taxes."
16
How does the shortage of funds affect the teaching of math
ematics? Programs for remedial math help are usually not a
top priority, and most schools will forgo them when funds are
not available. The same is true for staff training in the peda
gogy of mathematics education. Low salaries and abysmal
conditions make it diffcult for poor districts to attract well
trained teachers.
As Kozol noted in his survey of dozens of neighborhoods, most
schools now have some computers, but many students are not
reaping the benefts of the new technology. As with other re
sources, computers tend to be concentrated in affluent schools,
while African-American students and children with limited En
glish profciency have the least access. Moreover, poor schools
can't afford to train teachers in the appropriate use of computers.
An extreme example of inadequate funding is that of Toledo,
Ohio. The city was forced to close its schools several times dur
ing the 1 970s because it ran short of money for education. With
no other way available to express their resistance to high taxes,
the voters took out their resentment on the kids by voting down
one school budget after another. When new math programs were
introduced, the city had no money to educate teachers i n the use
of the materials.I'
Ini the Schol: Traking, Testing, an
Clssroom Environment
A look inside the schools yields futher insight into the conditions
that bring about fear and avoidance of mathematics. Let's exam
ine the school practice known as tracking, often called "sorting"
1 0 7
O U R S C H O O L S AR E F OU N D WANTI NG
PM
by its critics. In many schools, children entering the frst grade
have already been tracked, on the recommendations of their
kindergarten teachers or on the basis of a child's performance on
a standardized test, into high-, average-, and low-ability classes.
Later, a child's score on standardized reading tests generally
determines class placement. No matter that the child is a math
whiz; if the reading score is low, perhaps because the child is not
a native speaker of English, the child goes into the low-ability
class.
"I like to take the lowest-level class," remarked my friend
Paula, a frst-grade teacher in a predominantly Hispanic school .
"Nothing i s expected of them, and so I can do as I want." And she
has achieved outstanding results with some of her pupils.
The label "slow learner" stigmatizes children immediately.
They get the message that little is expected of them, and they
perform accordingly. Once they are placed in the slow or reme
dial track, there is little possibility that they can take academic
mathematics courses in high school , as Tami (age 17) discovered
the hard way.
[My fear] began in the ninth grade when I had pre
algebra. That was my frst time ever having a class other
than general [lowest level] math and everything looked
foreign to me and I didn't understand the class. I flunked
one semester and had to go to summer school . In tenth
grade I went back to general math because I hated alge
bra. Then in eleventh I decided to take algebra because I
wanted to go to college. I never was good in math . . . I
barely passed. I never to this day have overcome my fear
or dislike of ra th.
In a comprehensive study of New York City high schools, Lisa
Syron found that 35 percent of the students in the senior classes of
1 08
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WA N T I N G
1985 and 1986 had never completed a high school level mathemat
ics course, such as frst-year algebra. In schools that were pre
dominantly (99.9%) minority and also low-income, three out of
fve female seniors did not complete frst-year algebra or its
equivalent, and only 6 percent, or one out of sixteen, had taken
three or more years of academic math. To fulfll the two-year
math requirement, these students were placed in purely remedial
courses or in "Record Keeping." Often, attendance was used as
the measure of a student's effort.l'
These policies hurt students in several ways: they limited
their access to opportunities requiring mathematical com
petency, they tolerated learning climates that discouraged
achievement, they imparted the message that the students were
incapable of learning, and they allowed a situation to continue
in which students were bound to lose confdence in their ability
to do math.
Some students do brilliantly in spite of unfavorable condi
tions. Kathy, a twenty-year-old black Latina, survived fve pre
dominantly minority, low-income New York schools to become a
college math major. All through school she had a "passion for
math." She concluded her math autobiography with the em
phatic statement: "I am dedicated to the Art of Math! "
Jim (age 1 7) is another young person who was determined to
learn in spite of the obstacles. When he entered high school in
the tenth grade, he asked to take geometry. Although he had
completed the prerequisites in junior high school, his grades
were not considered good enough for academic math, and he
was tracked into a low-ability class. Determined to attend col
lege and to become a drug counselor so that he could help young
sters on the street, Jim continued his battle with the school
authorities. He fnally was allowed to take geometry in his se
nior year and did well in the course.
An important two-year study of schools in wealthy Montgom
ery County, Maryland, points out the consequences of tracking. In
the years preceding the study, the county had instituted a variety
of practices to improve the mathematics performance of female,
black, and Hispanic students, among them innovative curricula
and staff sensitivity training. Although the performance of all
these groups improved during those years, and both test scores
and participation rates were well above the national averages,
the differences in achievement among the groups persisted.
1 0 9
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F OU ND WANTI NG
Female students took somewhat less high school math than
males, received higher grades in class, and did as well as males
on standardized tests, except for the Scholastic Aptitude Tests.
Both male and female students scored about ffty-fve points
above the national average on the SATs, but the gender gap of
about ffty points persisted.
White and Asian students continued to outperform black
and Hispanic students. These differences were observed as early
as the frst and second grades, and were confrmed by standard
ized test scores in the third grade. Once a student fell below the
standard for his or her grade level, that child was not likely ever
to catch up. These differences in progress grew greater as chil
dren advanced through the grades. By the time they reached
high school , some students were no longer eligible to take ad
vanced math classes. Sixty percent of the black students and 52
percent of the Hispanic students left high school having com
pleted at most geometry or a lower-level course, compared with
32 percent of whites and only 1 3 percent of Asians. Later in the
chapter we will explore factors that were found to lead to these
differences, in particular teacher expectations and the differenti
ated math curriculum."
A signifcant study analyzed math enrollments in six predomi
nantly or entirely African-American high schools in an eastern
city. The families of the students in the six schools had similar
income and educational levels, yet the students differed mark
edly i n several respects from school to school. These were: propor
tion of students in academic versus nonacademic math courses,
the percentages of male and female students taking math, and the
numbers of students taking math in their senior year. The authors
conclude: "Apparently factors in the school environment-the
kind of counseling, the amount of teacher-student interaction,
and the leadership shown by administrators-make a substan
tial difference to minority students."2
.
These factors made a difference to Karen (age 21 ), a college
student and radio broadcaster. Discussing her experiences in
California schools, she wrote: "I don't think 1 had any real fear of
math. 1 believe my high school teachers and counselors instilled
in me a feeling that 1 couldn't comprehend or compete with my
peers in grade-level course work. As a result 1 had always been
placed in lower-level classes all through my high school career.
, , 0
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG
Now I know that is not true and I will soon be able to overcome
my mathematical inadequacies."
Students with limited English profciency often are de
prived of the kind of instruction that would enable them to
achieve their potential. Investigation by the U. S. Civil Rights
Commission into the experiences of Mexican-American students
in the Southwest revealed numerous instances of neglect and
abuse on the part of school personnel. These included inade
quate facilities, unwarranted placement in classes for retarded
children and in nonacademic tracks, and even prohibition of the
Spanish language on school grounds. The courts have outlawed
some of these practices, but it is more diffcult to change the
attitudes of school personnel."
Hispanic women are especially hard hit by such practices.
In 1981 only two out of fve had completed high school . In
high school they are tracked into such vocational courses as
home economics and clerical work, leading to typically female
and low-paying jobs. Role models are few, and teachers tend
to have negative views of their ability. As one Latina put it:
"You know the thing I hated most about school was those
teachers who acted like you were stupid just because you were
Hispanic. "
22
Andrea, from Guatemala, entered a New York City high
school speaking almost no English. She relates her experiences
with math:
Now I am weak in Math, but I did well in Math in
Guatemala. When I came here, I passed the frst course
because I was familiar with the material. I failed the
second course because I did not understand the lan
guage, and I had a conflict wi th the teacher. They did
not make me take the course again. Instead, they gave
me a consumer math class. I was very upset. They
should have allowed me to take the class again . . . . At
that time I was so frustrated and angry that I just took
the consumer class so I could graduate . . . . The stan
dard of education in Guatemala was higher . . . . I was
ashamed of being Hispanic and of the way I spoke . . . .
This society is ethnocentric. People don't care about
what happens outside of it.23
1 1 1
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WA NT I NG
Do children gain by placement in different ability-level
groups? There is not a shred of evidence to indicate that any but
the high-level children beneft from such placement. As a matter
of fact, all the evidence points in the opposite direction. The aver
age and low-level math curriculum is boring. Children are de
prived of positive interaction with their peers while they work on
routine exercises in their workbooks. Teachers of these classes
tend to emphasize discipline and conformity rather than the de
velopment of thinking skills. Years ago this type of education was
considered adequate preparation for unskilled factory jobs. To
day's students must be prepared for higher goals."
Many educators urge that tracking be abolished altogether in
favor of classroom organization based on cooperative learning
groups. A model for such a program is Finding OutlDescubrimi
ent (FOlD). Several hundred children in grades two, three, and
four, predominantly Mexican American with varying degrees of
profciency in both English and Spanish, participated in the pro
gram. A similar number of children in a bilingual program served
as a comparison group. Both groups had the same curriculum
except for the FOlD activities, one hour a day for fourteen weeks.
The FOlD program consisted of approximately 1 50 math and
science activities involving measuring, counting, estimating,
grouping, hypothesizing, analyzing, and reporting results. Stu
dents worked in small mixed-ability groups and were encouraged
to discuss their work among themselves in English or in Spanish,
as they preferred. All the materials were presented in cartoon
forma t wi th tex ts i n both Spanish and English. The children
helped one another to complete worksheets in either language.
The children's progress was observed and measured in many
ways during and after the fourteen-week period: intellectual de
velopment; math, science, and reading achievement; profciency
in Spanish and English; individual and group behavior. Although
both the FOlD and comparison groups gained in math computa
tion, a skill generally taught by rote memorization methods, the
FOlD children far outdistanced the others in mathematical con
cepts and applications, as measured by standardized tests. Gains
in all other areas were also signifcant. The researchers con
cluded that the most important factor influencing learning was
talking and working together i n small groups, which was far
more effective than consulting with teachers, particularly when
teachers are not immediately available. These kids were moti-
1 1 2
OU R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I N G
vated to use their time productively i n carrying out their assign
ments because the activities were challenging and the environ
ment was social . Children improved, too, in their use of written
language and their level of accuracy. The outcomes demonstrated
the value of programs based on cooperative learning groups en
gaged in interesting activities, the direct opposite of the usual
bilingual curriculum with its emphasis on rote memory skills
and individual seat work."
I have referred often to scores on standardized mathematics
tests. They are used to compare groups of students in different
programs; to compare classes, schools, and systems; to deter
mine how individuals are to be tracked; to make decisions about
promotion or flunking. How valid are these tests? Not valid at all
for assessing individual students, say their critics, and perhaps
not even for comparing schools and systems. Apart from outright
fraud, these multiple-choice tests are vulnerable on several
grounds. A multiple-choice test can measure only a narrow range
of skills. It cannot measure creativity or problem-solving apti
tude, abilities that are valuable in real-life situations, as well as in
advanced math courses.
Yet teachers are forced to devote hundreds of hours of class
time each year to teach for the tests. The tests determine the
curriculum to such an extent that school districts hire experts i n
curriculum alignment to adjust the texts and lessons to the test
items.
The brunt of this mania for testing is borne by low-income
and minority children. Their schools are under the greatest pres
sure to raise the scores. Federally funded programs for these
children demand accountability, and achievement is measured
by test scores. But as we have seen, programs such as FOlD
prove their success even when measured by the scores on stan
dardized tests; children gain more by engaging in interesting
activities than by repeating memorized facts. It's time to devise
better ways to assess learning. As a matter of fact , new types of
assessment are already under consideration.2
6
Tehs, th KFator
A common thread runs through the math autobiographies I
received from African-American students majoring in mathe
matics, science, and engineering at a predominantly black
1 1 3
O U R S C H OOL S ARE F OU N D WA NT I NG
The Lake Wobegon Efect: Can All Children Be
Above Average?
Is i t possible for most children to have "above average"
scores on standardized achievement tests? "Average" on
such tests is usually defned in terms of grade level. Half
the students in that grade have scores at or above this
point, while the other half have scores at or below this
point. Students are ranked as being at grade level, or a
certain number of years above or below their grade
level.
In 1988 a West Virginia physician, Dr. John J. Cannell,
fled consumer-fraud complaints against four major test
publishers after he had learned that in all states that
mandated state-wide testing, children were achieving
"above average"; each state's average scores were above
the grade levels set by the testing organizations. His re
port was dubbed "the Lake Wobegon report," in refer
ence to Garrison Keillor's mythical community in which
"all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking,
and all the children are above average. "
The test makers contended that the defnition of "aver
age" had been established six or seven years earlier, and
that children had generally improved in the intervening
years. Critics of these testing programs gave other rea
sons for the rising scores, among them the practices of
adjusting the curriculum to the narrow content of the
tests and devoting much classroom time to drilling for
the tests.
It would seem that educators and test makers are not
above misleading the public as to how well children are
learing. (Daniel Koretz, "Arriving in Lake Wobegon:
Are Standardized Tests Exaggerating Achievement and
Distorting Instruction?" American Educator 1 2 [Summer
19881: 8-1 5, 46-52)
1 1 4
OU R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANTI NG
university. Somewhere along the way they had encountered
good teachers, people who were able to make math interesting
and enjoyable and who encouraged them to do well. Here are
some excerpts:
Mona (age 19, engineering major): "In high school my love for
math increased every year because I had excellent teachers
who encouraged me to move on."
Jonathan (age 20): "At high school I had excellent teachers
who really were concerned about the students excelling be
yond high school into college. I really learned the material
covered in math, and I thank them even today."
Rhoda (age 23, chemistr major and practical nurse): " I be
lieve that the most important thing that has helped me to
overcome my fear of math . . . was the caring demonstrated
by my instructors. I think that if more teachers realized the
effect that they could have on students, they would use
their abilities to help produce more positive-thinking math
students."
Mall (age 18): "Not until my second year in high school did I
show any interest in mathematics-probably because my
teacher really made class interesting; from then on I tried to
learn the techniques of math."
Dr. Helene Walker belongs to an older generation. She had
attended a coed high school with a female math department
chairperson. "There was no gender differentiation. The inspira
tion of my high school teachers, especially the math team coach
(a man), encouraged me to major in mathematics in college."27
Dr. Walker was more fortunate than many. From preschool
on up through graduate school, teachers and counselors are
guilty of sexist behavior. In the early 1980s Drs. Myra and David
Sadker conducted an extensive study in school classrooms to
compare the attitudes of teachers toward girls and boys. Al
though the majority of elementary school teachers are women,
the Sadkers found that they devoted more time and attention to
boys than to girls. Particularly in math and science, teachers are
far more apt to call upon boys, expecting that they, rather than
girls, will give the right answers. When a girl is called upon, she
is given less time to respond before the teacher turns to another
student. Even feminist teachers, those who set out to be fair, are
1 1 5
O U R S C H O O L S AR E F O U N D WA NT I NG
The Teacher A Inspiration and Role Model
Fern Hunt is one of three contemporary mathematicians
profled in the "Black Achievers in Science" traveling
exhibition organized by the Chicago Museum of Science
and Industry. A professor at Howard University, she
didn' t really like math in elementary school. Inspiration
came from a black junior high school science teacher.
He not only made science fascinating but also urged her
to apply for a science honors program at Columbia Uni
versity. Eventually this i nterest led to a doctorate in
mathematics at New York University. Besides teaching
mathematics, she has devoted time to doing mathemati
cal modeling in cancer research at the National Insti
tutes of Health.
Fern Hunt's path was not easy. "To be honest, when I
was going to college and i n graduate school I don't think
I got a lot of encouragement. By and large I had to seek
out the professors and didn't get a lot of good advice
about what to do and when to do it. In graduate school I
think the professors probably thought it a bit odd that
there was a Black woman studying mathematics at that
level. I was very conscious of having to validate my own
legitimacy."
She is optimistic about women's involvement in mathe
matics. "There has been a tremendous change in women's
consciousness. . . . There are going to be little girls
coming along with mathematical talent and with a de
sire to pursue mathematics." (Harriet Jackson Scarupa,
"Women and Mathematics," New Directions [July/October
1 983]: 17-23.)
guilty of sexist treatment, as revealed by videotapes of their
classrooms in action.
Boys are praised for logical and independent thinking, while
girls are rewarded for neatness, good behavior, and sensitivity to
others. Attempts on the part of girls to break away from these
stereotypes may be disastrous. A follow-up study on poor chil-
1 1 6
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F OU N D WANTI N G
dren in an enriched early childhood program found that by the
upper grades the boys had generally achieved more than their
peers, but the girls had not excelled. On the contrary, when they
showed curiosity and independent thinking, they were put down
for "sassiness."28
Most of the teachers in the Sadkers' study were uncon
scious of their bias. As an example (not in the Sadkers' study), a
male teacher, meaning no harm, made this devastating com
ment to a boy who was slow in solving problems: "You should
sit on the girls' side of the room! " To the teacher's credit, he
was willing to change his behavior when his errors were re
vealed to him."
In a study of female participation in advanced high school
math and science courses, Patricia Casserly found that teachers
were most influential in recruiting young women to these classes.
On the other hand, guidance counselors, who are in a position to
play a crucial role in students' futures, are themselves ignorant of
the mathematics requirements for many careers, and are often
downright discouraging. Concerned about college admissions
and imbued with stereotypical ideas about girls' lack of math
aptitude, they convince young women to take courses in which
they are likely to earn high grades. "Why spoil your record with a
hard math course?"30
When Ethel (age 38) did poorly on an eighth-grade math
test, her counselor advised against enrolling in algebra. Fortu
nately Ethel ignored the advice. The outcome-an A i n algebra!
But this positive experience did not help her to overcome the
conviction that she had no aptitude for more advanced math.
This bias on the part of guidance counselors may be found
even in those who consider themselves confrmed feminists, like
my friend Helen. Asked to recommend seniors who might qual
ify for a minority program in medicine, she went through her
register and notifed the appropriate students. When a female
student came to her offce the following day to inquire about the
program, she suddenly realized to her horror that she had se
lected only males!
Teachers are members of our society, and they are just as
likely as others to hold attitudes that are influenced by race and
class. Some allow these attitudes to color their relations with
their students. The educator Theodore Sizer sums it up: "Race
and class snarl in many teachers' perceptions of students, leading
1 1 7
O U R S C H O OL S AR E F O U N D WANTI NG
to stereotypes. If you're black, you're poor. If you speak English
haltingly, you're stupid. If you're white, you have a future. Blacks
are basketball players. Blond is beautiful."3
1
High school senior Mina Choi set out to discover whether a
student's race and sex influenced secondary school teachers' atti
tudes toward that student. Teachers in several schools were
asked to rate twenty-eight black, white, and Asian high school
students by examining their photographs. To conceal the true
nature of the survey, they were told that i t was a test of teachers'
accuracy i n predicting how students would achieve, and that the
results would be correlated with each student's record. The
teachers, most of whom were white, rated Asians by far the
highest on math/science ability and motivational level, with
blacks the lowest. The reverse rating applied to physical ability.
Little difference was found in the comparative rating of females
and males within each racial group."
Other surveys bear out these fndings. A regional study in
the New Orleans public schools, completed in 1988, found that
56 percent of the teachers don't expect black males to go to
college, and therefore do not encourage them to achieve in
school."
Julie (age 33), an African American, told of her experiences
with math: "It could have been less diffcult and stressful if
teachers would have displayed a more optimistic attitude re
garding expectations of students."
Let's look again at the Montgomery County, Maryland, re
port. For several years the county had offered sensitivity train
ing to the staff and had placed special emphasis on participation
of female and minority students in higher-level courses. Yet
black students in honors classes felt that the teachers regarded
them as inferior to white students. Some teachers accounted for
the lower performance of blacks and Hispanics by blaming the
home or society, problems about which they felt they could do
nothing. On the other hand, black parents were most vocal in
supporting the need for their children to study math.
In this report, teachers admitted that their expectations
were different for students in the advanced track than for chil
dren working below grade level. The advanced groups were ex
pected to think at a higher level, to deal with complex problems
and new situations. Students in the low track were exposed to
repetitious drill, rote learning, and the most simple examples.
1 1 8

OU R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG

SUENT WILL
6 MW '

UVlTS

=I"
9

wr
7"
`it=

Mina Choi with her award-winning project in the 1 988 Westinghouse

Talent Search. (Photograph by the Ne York Teacher.)
Obviously the
h
igh- and low-level groups experienced math in
different ways!
As for the attitudes toward female students, over half the
principals and counselors believed that math was for men. They
thought that female performance in math differed from that of
males for the following reasons: lack of interest, the perception
that math is not useful to women, and the belief that females are
not as competent in math as are males. The old stereotypes
persist. Furthermore, many elementary school teachers, most of
whom are women, admit that they are not comfortable teaching
math, and may, unwittingly, provide negative role models to
their female students.34
Some of my respondents traced their fear of math to specifc
incidents involving elementary school teachers or classroom
practices, experiences they still remembered years later:
1 1 9
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F OU N D WA NT I NG
Lisa (age 38): "First grade, fguring a math problem, very
easy, in front of class, forced by teacher to come to the
chalkboard. I couldn't do i t. I hated being in front of the
class. The teacher became angry with me. I cried and
stayed there in front of the class until she told me I could
sit down."
Carla (age 25): "In Grade Two I was always afraid that my
peers would think I was stupid because when I went to the
chalkboard I could never fgure out what I should be doing
about problems on the board."
William (age 24): "When I was younger my teachers didn't
care if I ever learned math at all. I am now involved in a
learning-disabled study. I am now fnding out what went
wrong in retaining math."
Addie (age 38), a guidance counselor, is in a good position
to analyze her own avoidance of math. In the small college she
had attended, word went out that the math professor was mean
and tough, and so she avoided taking any math beyond the
introductory course. Now she regrets not having a deeper back
ground in math for the educational measurements course she
needs for an additional license. Looking back, she wishes she
had encountered more interesting, effective, and competent
teachers. "More positive attitudes about math would make the
stigma [ ! ] of taking math classes a lot less for my students that
I counsel every day."
With the present shortage of mathematics teachers, schools
may not be able to engage the "interesting, effective, and compe
tent teachers" that Addie recommends, or the people of color
who would serve as role models to inspire young Hispanics and
blacks to continue their education. Teaching can be a hard, low
paying, unrewarding job, and no longer attracts the "best and
the brightest." Young people, especially young women, now
have more options. Schools, particularly in large cities, make do
with the teachers that they can get. Often these people are, at
best, untrained, and, at worst, uninterested.
Sharon and Anita are eighteen-year-old students entering
California universities. Enrolled in summer bridge programs in
math, they blamed their high school math teachers for their
earlier failure. When Sharon's geometry teacher became ill, the
class was taken over by about twelve different substitutes in
1 2 0
O U R S C H OOL S ARE F O U N D WAN T I N G
turn. Some knew nothing about geometry, while others had their
own peculiar ways of teaching. It was a wasted year. No wonder
Sharon dropped math!
Anita wrote in her math autobiography: "The teachers didn't
know themselves what they were teaching. We students corrected
them. Instead of having a math class, I considered it a free pe
riod." And that is how she received credit for Geometry, Algebra
II, and Mathematical Analysis.
Mark (age 20) had overcome his diffculties in learning alge
bra by attending the Pre-Professional Development Program at
his California community college. The son of poorly educated
Mexican parents, he received little concrete help at home and
found the high school environment anything but inspiring.
Some of his math teachers, licensed to teach physical education,
were "learning from the students because they couldn't under
stand what they were doing . . . . I started to feel this hatred for
education altogether. I felt like I was repeating elementary
schoo!." A low-paying job in Silicon Valley proved to be too
monotonous, and Mark fnally found his way into a college that
met his needs.
Like these young people, you may also look back at your
school experiences and wish that they had been different. "If the
teacher had known the material better . . . if she had given me
more time to answer the questions . . . if he had shown more
interest . . . if, if, if . . . then I would not have developed this fear
of math, this anxiety, the need to avoid anything resembling
mathematics." But, as the math autobiographies attest, it is not
too late to overcome these fears and anxieties. As a frst step, you
should identify those experiences and incidents that had a nega
tive influence on your feelings about mathematics, as well as
those that affected you positively. Above all, you should not
blame yourself for the inadequacies that are due to conditions
beyond your contro!'
DCEverone Get an Equ Cance? Mathematics
and Soci Stratifcation
Critical sociologists of education, such as Michael Apple and
Henry Giroux, claim that schools function to sort students ac
cording to the roles that they are expected to fulfll in later life.
They argue that children of the advantaged social groups are
1 2 1
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F OU N D WANT I NG
educated to become the leaders of society, while working-class
children are trained to engage in dull, repetitive work and to
give blind obedience to authority."
To investigate how this theory applies in practice, Jean
Anyon of Rutgers University visited ffth-grade classes in north
ern New Jersey schools representing four different social strata:
working class, middle class, affluent professional, and executive
elite, to use her categories. In the working-class schools the stu
dent body was about 85 percent white, while the other schools
were almost entirely white. She observed the children in all
their subject areas and interviewed their teachers, all of whom
had been rated "good" or "excellent" by their principals. I will
summarize her general observations about the math curricu
lum, teacher attitudes, and classroom atmosphere."
utKUg-La88 bchm8
Children were expected to follow the steps of a procedure, with
little explanation of the reasons for that procedure or its rele
vance to anything else they had been taught. They copied the
rules from the chalkboard into their notebooks and were evalu
ated on how well they followed these steps. The entire teaching
process for division by a two-digit number consisted of the rules:
"Divide, multiply, subtract, bring down. " When some students
seemed confused, the teacher said, "You're confusing your
selves," and just repeated the rules. The teachers made no at
tempt to explain the concepts or to use manipulative materials
that might clarify the procedures.
The teachers would conduct oral drills in a manner that
reminded Anyon of a sergeant drilling recruits, fring one ques
tion after another with no time for thought or discussion. They
barked out orders without so much as a "please" or a " thank
you." Students were not to leave their seats without permission.
The students, for their part, did all they could to resist the teach
ers' orders and the required assignments. On the whole, very
little actual teaching occurred. Perhaps some of these students
were making a conscious effort to " not-learn," on the assump
tion that they had nothing to gain."
N00c-La88 bchuu8
Children were expected to get right answers, although some
choice of procedure was permitted. When children reviewed
1 2 2
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WA N T I N G
homework, they were expected to describe their procedure. Les
sons were based on textbooks. One child described school work
in these words: "You store facts in your head like cold storage
until you need it later for a test or your job. "
Vuc88uUa aD0 IxccutVc bchuu8
Creative work was carried out independently. Children were ex
pected to think about the concepts before arriving at answers to
problems. They used calculators if they wished, and had access
to a variety of materials. Children moved freely about the room
and talked to one another. Teachers treated them with respect
and held them responsible for their work. Students were trusted
to check each other's work and to carry out experiments on their
own, while teachers circulated to give help as needed.
What a contrast among these schools! It is obvious from these
brief descriptions of teaching methods, classroom atmosphere,
and relations of the students with their teachers that some stu
dents are being groomed to take power and others are expected
to be subservient. Most of these students are white; imagine how
racism aggravates the gap between the empowering and the
authoritarian c1assrooms.38
Most of the math autobiographies I received indicate that
the writers attended working-class schools, or, at best, middle
class schools. An elite school student who performed poorly i n
math would probably have received immediate attention and
help, either from the teacher or from private tutors.
Before coming to the United States to enter college, Ron (age
20) had completed secondary school in Indonesia, where social
class divisions are even greater than in this country. Not only did
he attend private junior and senior high school, but "if we found
some lessons diffcult, we could take a private course. I took a
private course in math, physics, and chemistry when I was in
senior high school . . . . Sometimes I found something compli
cated and hard to understand. So I usually asked it of my private
teacher. My dislike of math was overcome after I was taught
clearly by my private teacher."
The eighth-grade mathematics curriculum provides an
other example of social stratifcation. In connection with the
Second International Mathematics Study, eighth-grade students
in eighteen countries were tested in 1982 on several aspects of
1 2 3
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WA NT I NG
mathematics. The United States did not show up well, ranking
far behind Japan, France, and Hungary. Probing into the eighth
grade math curriculum, investigators found that schools in this
country offer four dramatically different programs:
Algebra, at the most advanced level
Enriched-arithmetic, some algebra, a little geometry
Typical-a great deal of arithmetic, a little algebra and
geometry
Remedial-predominantly arithmetic, review of elementary
school topics
What criteria were used to place students in one or another
of these tracks? When the investigators compared the arithmetic
test scores of students entering the four levels, they found a large
overlap among the levels, to the point where the lowest-scoring
students in the algebra strand had lower scores than three
quarters of the students i n the remedial classes. This sorting
process has the most drastic negative impact on minority and
low-income young people." Remember Mark and his comment
that high school made him feel like he was repeating elementary
school ?
Another aspect of social stratifcation is the placement of
a disproportionate number of poor and minority children in
special-education classes for math and other subjects. Presum
ably these children have been diagnosed as having learning dis
abilities (LD), biological conditions that prevent them from
learning as normal children do. In practice, special-education
classes are often flled with students who merely need remedial
work. With federal funding available for special education but
not for helping average students, schools take advantage of the
situation. According to Gerald Coles, "special-education place
ment, especially for ethnic and racial minorities and lower
working-class children, is further demonstration that LD has
functioned in the schools quite removed from professional deci
sions based on valid evidence."40 And the stigma of the label
"special ed" may stay with the child for a lifetime.
As for children considered learning disabled in math, Al
lard ice and Ginsburg believe that " the most obvious environ
mental cause of poor mathematics achievement is schooling
that is especially inadequate in the case of mathematics."41
1 2 4
OU R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I N G
They recommend the investigation of each child's learning po
tential, rather than reliance on achievement test scores. Atten
tion should be given to the child's learning style and personality
and to the social context of learning. Taking these factors into
consideration "would be an important step in moving away
from blaming the victim and toward acknowledging the com
plex interactions involved in learning."4
2
What about the person who has a genuine learning disabil
ity, a biological condition similar to dyslexia? There is much
disagreement as to the causes and treatment, and it's beyond the
scope of this book to make any specifc recommendations. But
there is hope. Just as dyslexics learn to read, so people learn to
cope with learning disabilities in mathematics. The journal Fo
cus on Learing Problems in Mathematics is devoted to the discus
sion of such problems and their solution.
Te Collge Se
The work force of the future will be better educated than it was
in the past. To a far greater extent than at present, this well
educated work force of the future will include women, African
Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and people from low
income and working-class families.
Colleges are now prepared to admit students who would not
have dreamed of a college education a few years ago. Through
no fault of their own, for reasons that we have already discussed,
many of these students enter higher education inadequately pre
pared for college-level work. Colleges must furnish the remedial
assistance that students should have received in their early
years.
Most colleges now have " developmental" or "academic skills"
departments to help students overcome their defciencies. Ac
cording to a 1988 estimate, 37 percent of college math courses are
remedial. Even at Harvard, that elite, highly selective institution,
some students need tutoring in decimal points and elementary
algebra. But for colleges that serve students from the inner cities,
the percentage of students requiring such remediation is much
higher than the national average. Some institutions have sum
mer bridge programs for entering students, to help them catch up
before they become involved in the grind of full-time college
work.
1 2 5
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F OU N D WA NT I NG
Many students need help i n overcoming their fear of math,
as well as remediation in mathematical content. Colleges now
have programs to help math-fearers build confdence in their
math ability. It might be just a one-session "math anxiety" work
shop, a full course with a title such as "Mind Over Math," or a
clinic staffed by a math instructor and a psychologist.
At the age of 45, Elsie was determined to overcome her fear
of mathematics. She had lost confdence in her ability when a
fourth-grade teacher told her she had no math skills. In spite of
this hurtful remark, she received straight A's in high school alge
bra and geometry, for which she thanks a "very positive teacher
who told us all we could do anything." With poor instructors in
college statistics courses, "the old anxiety returned and it took
me twice as long to pass the subjects as i t should have." At the
time she wrote her autobiography she was attending a math
anxiety class and "attempting to overcome this anxiety."
For those who cannot or prefer not to attend full-time four
year colleges, there are workers' schools and community col
leges. Early in the 1 970s Wayne State University in Detroit set
up the frst college for worker education, a program to help
working adults obtain their degrees by attending college eve
nings, weekends, and summers. By 1988 there were twelve such
centers i n the United States, and they had long waiting lists.
Subjects are scheduled for large blocks of time; for example,
students may concentrate on math one semester and science the
next. Participants work in cooperative groups to help them over
come their fears and anxieties more easily. Working people need
to be prepared as broadly as possible for a rapidly changing
world, and workers' colleges provide one solution."
Community, or two-year, colleges have seen tremendous
growth in recent years, to the point where in 1989 they enrolled
43 percent of all students in higher education. Well over half
were women, and the average age of all students was twenty
eight years. Because of the lower tuition costs and less rigorous
entrance requirements than those of four-year colleges, two-year
institutions are particularly attractive to working people with
families and to low-income students. In 1986 community col
leges enrolled almost six out of every ten Latinos/Latinas and
American Indians attending college, more than four of every ten
African Americans and Asian Americans, and over one-third of
whites. Some eventually transfer to four-year institutions, while
1 2 6
OU R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG
others have the goal of upgrading their work skills or pursuing
new careers that require only an associate degree.44
Although women are attending institutions of higher learn
ing in record numbers, they often fnd the college environment a
chilly one. Women who have had clear sailing throughout ele
mentary and secondary school may become discouraged by their
college experiences. A report with the expressive title "The Class
room Climate: A Chilly One for Women?" details the many types
of sex discrimination that may induce capable women to give up
their career aspirations, and later research confrmed these fnd
ings." Teacher behavior is often similar to that observed in the
lower schools. Female students are often considered less capable
and less serious than male students. Instructors involve men
more than women in class interactions and permit men to inter
rupt women, while the female students themselves lack the self
confdence to stand their ground. Women may be asked purely
factual questions, rather than the "higher-order" thought ques
tions directed at men. Because a disproportionate number of col
lege faculty members are men, women may not get the help they
need. One analyst suggested: "College catalogues should carry
warnings: The value you receive will depend on your sex.""
An instructor, trying to be helpful, may make a demeaning
remark: "I know that women have trouble with spatial concepts,
but I' ll be happy to give you extra help." Not so innocent are
the openly sexist jokes and the unsubtle remarks disparaging
women. Whether subtle or overt, sexist behavior damages both
women and men, as well as the whole educational process.
When Shiela Strauss attended Hunter College High School
several decades ago, this public high school for the gifted was all
female. Now that the school was coed and she taught mathemat
ics there, it seemed to her that female students in the most
advanced calculus classes were much more passive than in her
day. To test her perceptions, she carried out a controlled experi
ment. Sure enough, the results bore out the fact that the girls
were less self-confdent and perceived themselves as ranking
lower than the boys, al though they performed as well as or bet
ter than the male students."
In both high school and college, women attending single-sex
schools take more courses in math and science and are far more
likely to major in those felds than women in coed institutions."
At Spelman College, a historically black women's school, two
1 2 7
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG
out of fve students were majoring in math, science, and engi
neering in the mid-1 980s." Indeed, when I attended all-female
Hunter College, mathematics was second only to French as the
most popular major feld.
Historically black colleges and universities have been in exis
tence for more than a century, established at the time of rigor
ously enforced segregation. A newer development is the growth
of institutions and programs to serve Hispanic students. As of
1 991 , twenty-seven Indian tribal colleges, mainly two-year insti
tutions, had been set up on reservations in Midwestern and West
ern states. Funding for most of these colleges and universities is
far from adequate.50
The historically black colleges and universities are more
successful than predominantly white colleges in producing Afri
can-American mathematics graduates. Although they granted
one-third of the bachelor's degrees earned by black students i n
1 98 1 , they were responsible for over half of the mathematics de
grees and 40 percent of the degrees in computer and physical
sciences earned by black students. It is interesting to note that a
larger percentage of black women than men have majored in
math.'l Small, poorly equipped Xavier College in New Orleans is
outstanding in fostering black premedical students; confdence
building and cooperative work are the key ingredients in their
success.52
Al though the federal government has urged the desegrega
tion of some of the state-supported historically black institu
tions, many African-American educators feel that they must be
maintained. In a deposition concerning the future of the Louisi
ana state college system, Dr. Dolores Spikes, mathematician and
president of Southern University, wrote: "Historically white col
leges are not capable of addressing the needs of black students
because whites are socially and culturally deprived of under
standing the needs, desires, abilities and mores of black stu
dents."
S
J The hostile climate and outright racist incidents at
many predominantly white colleges have discouraged blacks
from attending these institutions.54
Both the enrollment and retention of minority students is a
serious issue that is fnally receiving some attention. Poverty
and inadequate fnancial aid are problems that affect all low
income and many middle-income people, and minorities are
especially hard hit. Outright grants have become scarce, and
1 2 8
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG
Teachers as Motivators: Clarence Stephens and
Lee Lorch
It is deplorable that few women and people of color are
on the faculties of mathematics departments outside of
single-sex and race/ethnic-related colleges and universi
ties. Yet we can point to programs and instructors that
were successful in developing mathematicians among
women and people of color in spite of the absence of role
models.
One such success is the department of mathematics at
the State University of New York College at Potsdam, for
merly headed by Dr. Clarence Stephens. Only one of the
sixteen faculty members is a woman. Yet, as John Poland
writes in his glowing description of the program, "they
graduate more women in mathematics than men . . . . The
female mathematics students attribute their success to
the supportive atmosphere."
Another outstanding example is Dr. Lee Lorch, a white
professor at historically black Fisk University. During the
fve years ( 1 950-1955) he headed the mathematics de
partment, he "influenced one-fourth of [his students] to
pursue and earn the master's degree in pure mathemat
ics. Moreover, one-tenth of the students continued to the
doctorate. Each known doctoral recipient credits Lee
Lorch as the greatest influence in his choice of career, "
wrote Dr. Vivienne Malone Mayes, a former student. His
warm concern for the welfare of African-American people
prompted an attack by the Congressional Committee on
Un-American Activities and dismissal from Fisk by the
white Board of Trustees, without charges or trial. To this
day he has continued to work on behalf of minorities and
women. (John Poland, "A Modern Fairy Tale," American
Mathematical Monthly 94 [ 1 987]: 291-295; Vivienne M.
Mayes, "Lee Lorch at Fisk: A Tribute," American Mathe
matical Monthly 83 [ 1 976]: 708-7 1 1 ; "Citation for Lee
Lorch," Newsletter [Association for Women in Mathemat
ics] 22, 2 [March-April 1 992]: 5-6.)
1 2 9
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F OU N D WANT I NG
78.4%
WWW
Ml .
..
m.. c ..
m w.
Acocc L inreaed f 1Vq1V , , ,
LO K W PD MR

;

=
=

I

students are reluctant to take on a heavy debt load. These
young people might well ask why tuition soars and grants dis
appear just when more people of color hope to go to college.
Our national leaders say that well-educated people will be
needed in the work force of the future. How are they to get
their education?"
Another problem is the decline in the number of students
majoring in mathematics, just when more felds are becoming
mathematicized. Who will enter these felds? Who will teach the
coming generation? Who will be the role models in the future?
The problem is even more serious for minority students, who
suffer from inadequate high school preparation, poor counsel
ing, a shortage of minority math and science teachers, and too
few role models and mentors to spur them on.
Reform at all levels is essential. In the words of a recent
report: 'Most of the interventions devised by colleges and univer
sities are aimed at enabling students and/or faculty from under
represented groups to ft into, adjust to, or negotiate the existing
system . . . . [Only by J changing the climate in which the stu
dents are educated can we . . . Signifcantly afect the participa-
1 3 0
O U R S C H OOL S AR E F O U N D WANT I NG
tion of women, minorities, people with disabilities, and, indeed,
all students in science, mathematics, and engineering."56
Yes, change the climate, reform precollege education, grant
more scholarships, and, most important, encourage young people
to complete their education by offering the tangible reward of a
good job at the end of the tunnel.
1 3 1
CHAP TER S I X

School Math Is Not
Necessarly Real Math
I did not dislike math in elementary school and did well, as I
recall. There was something satisfying about doing arithmetic
problems, but with hindsight, I realize I never really went be
yond perorming and not developing any real number sense
how these different types of computations relate to one another.
With hindsight. I can understand that my lack of confdence
and eventual fear of things mathematical were due in great part
to lack of experience and never having had an opportunity to
develop shortcuts for calculations. I tended to try to do men
tally what I'd been taught to do on paper and with pencil
borrow from the ten, carry the one, etc.-never rounding off or
estimating generally.
Can you imagine what it was like to study statistics as both
an undergraduate and graduate student? I survived those
courses-without understanding-by memorizing and plug
ging in formulas at the appropriate times. In response to my
questions about how to decide what statistic to apply to my
research data (not just how to apply the statistic as given by
the professor), I was told I needed calculus for that. Oh, great! I
didn't get the algebra in all I was doing; how could I grasp
calculus?
-Mar Jo Cittadino, Mathematics Educator,
EQUALS, University of Cali fomi a at Berkeley
Hassler Whitney was one of the most prominent and creative
mathematicians of the twentieth century. A long-time professor
at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he
spent his later years in elementary classrooms, observing how
math is taught and teaching classes himself. He deplored what
was happening in the feld, fearing that math avoidance would
increase as a result. When adults told him, "I never could do
math," he sympathized with them and responded: "You never
had a chance to see or do real math, which is easy and fun. "1
1 3 2
S C H OOL MATH I S NOT N EC E S S AR I L Y R E AL MAT H
Elmntar Math Can B R Math
I will start this section on an upbeat note by telling you about
the "real math" I witnessed on a visit to my friend Judy's class
room.' She teaches a combined third- and fourth-grade class of
socioeconomically and culturally diverse students in an urban
school . The children had just fnished a unit on Africa. Patterned
cloth from several regions of the continent decorated the room.
Neatly labeled African objects lay on an open shelf. On a large
table was a miniature circular compound of round houses, some
fashioned from tiny clay bricks, others molded from clay, their
conical roofs covered with foil to simulate metal. A shelf held a
collection of Owari game boards the students had made from
styrofoam egg cartons and painted in brilliant colors. Owari is
one version of the African mathematical game known by the
generic name "mankala," and rated one of the ten best games in
the world. Two players take turns transferring seeds or pebbles
around the board in order to capture the majority of the playing
pieces.
Judy invited me to examine the children's portfolios, stacked
in a tall pile on top of a bookcase. It was obvious that mathemat
ics was an important component of their work. They had drawn
geometric "game boards" for several African versions of three-in
a-row games. Before constructing their compound of round
houses, they had carried out an experiment to determine the
shape that would have the largest floor space for a given amount
of materials for the walls. Using a fxed perimeter of sixteen units,
measured by a sixteen-unit length of string or strip of grid paper,
each child had drawn a circle and several rectangles with differ
ent dimensions on a sheet of grid paper. Counting the grid units
enclosed by each shape convinced the children that the circle had
the greatest area, while the area of the rectangle diminished as
the two dimensions grew further apart. In the course of this
hands-on experiment the students learned to distinguish be
tween perimeter and area, developed the formulas for the perime
ter and area of a rectangle, and understood the use of linear units
to measure length and square units to measure area.
Why do some people live in round houses, while others pre
fer a rectangular shape? Why do some people construct flimsy
temporary dwellings while others build solid structures to last a
long time? The children had engaged in a spirited discussion of
1 3 3
S C H O O L MAT H I S N O T N E C E S S ARI L Y R E AL MATH
Oari game board on kente cloth, both from Ghana.
(Photograph by D. W. Crowe.)
these questions. They considered such factors as the climate, the
available materials, the way the people made their living, and
the traditions of the society. This discussion led to an investiga
tion of the kind of homes and buildings they saw in their own
communities. How would rectangular furniture ft into a round
house?
These kids were solving real problems as they learned
about other cultures and made comparisons with their own
environment. Their study of African societies involved math,
social studies, art and architecture, language arts, music, and
science-just about all their school subjects. Various branches
of math came into play-arithmetic, geometry, measurement,
decision making.
Students of varied "abilities" worked in cooperative groups
and discussed diffculties as they arose, while the teacher or an
assistant circulated, throwing out hints to stimulate children's
thinking. All responses are accepted. There is no punishment
for wrong answers, but children are expected to justify their
conclusions. Writing is important; students wrote their ques
tions and procedures in their notebooks. The project offered a
variety of activities to engage students of diverse backgrounds
1 3 4
S C H OOL MAT H I S N OT N E C E S S AR I LY R E AL MAT H
and learning styles. General class discussion often followed the
group activities.
Discipline is hardly a problem; the kids are too involved to
get into trouble! While Judy was showing me the portfolios and
exhibits, the children were working in their groups to solve the
"problem of the day," an algebra problem about the purchase of
various quantities of East African cloth and shoes. The groups
were using different strategies-guess and check, make a table,
write algebra equations.
Judy manages to have plenty of help. The day I visited she
had an intern from a local college (he just happened to have
spent seven years in Africa), a parent, and a senior citizen volun
teer who kept track of the clerical work, like checking that the
students had completed their assignments. Another nice feature
of Judy's class is that the children learn to count and to speak
some expressions in Spanish and in Haitian Creole; the latter
language is emphasized in the school.
Teachers like Judy put their students in control of their own
learning. They expect that all children are capable of doing
math, and trust them to work out solutions to real problems,
both on their own and in cooperation with their classmates.'
School learning is not separate from the outside world; school,
community, and the world beyond are integrated into a meaning
ful whole.
Your experience with school math was probably radically
different from the picture I painted of Judy's classroom. Even
today, the majority of students are not enjoying the "real math"
that would be meaningful to them. In the early grades children
are expected to learn mathematical words and symbols, and to
master paper-and-pencil procedures involving operations with
numbers. Since they see no connection between these proce
dures and the real world, it all makes little sense to them. The
only way they can learn the required material is to memorize it,
bit by bit, as it is fed to them.
With the emphasis on accountability, measured by standard
ized tests, teachers feel compelled to use methods that they
know are harmful. My friend Paula asked me how she can get
her frst graders to memorize the addition facts. In the past her
students had learned by experimenting with various kinds of
manipulative materials-blocks, beads, Cuisenaire rods, to name
a few. With the new mandate from above-rigid curriculum
1 3 5
S C H O O L MAT H I S N OT N E C E S S ARI L Y RE AL MATH
Mind Your Language!
Suppose Cathy has fve tapes and Kwame has twenty
tapes. I might compare the numbers by making any of
these statements:
"Kwame has ffteen more tapes than Cathy." I look at
the difference between the numbers .
"Kwame has four times as many tapes as Cathy." I
multiply Cathy's number by four to get Kwame's
number.
" Kwame has three times more tapes than Cathy." I look
at the difference between the numbers-ffteen-and
see that it is three times Cathy's number.
But the last statement is probably wrong, although it
might have been correct a few years ago. The style
seems to have changed. Here is an example from the
Los Angeles Times ( I I March 1 991 , "In Brief," page B3).
Regarding asthma, Dr. Sheffer is quoted as saying: "The
mortality rate for Afro-American males is four times
that of whites, and for [black] females it is three times
higher."
I judge from the context that "four times the rate" is
greater than " three times higher than the rate." I would
have thought that both expressions have the same mean
ing. Obviously they don't. I am confused!
and precise time frame to "prepare for the test" -there was no
time for "frills" such as concrete experiences with numbers. The
main goal was to raise the test scores in the district, which
ranked near the bottom in the city. I convinced her that she
must resist the pressures if she didn't want the children to grow
up thinking that math is just a matter of rote memorization and
believing that they were incapable of taking charge of their own
mathematical learning. Subsequently a delegation of teachers
from the schools in the district was able to persuade the admin
istration to relax the pressures somewhat.
1 3 6
S C H OOL MAT H I S N OT N E C E S S AR I LY R E AL MATH
Schools generally ignore the fact that children enter school
with a considerable amount of mathematical knowledge, picked
up from their families and the environment, and processed by
means of their own problem-solving abilities, just as they ac
quired language. Children learn to talk because they need to ask
for something, to do something, to relate an important event.
They don't need to be "taught" speech. They learn by watching
and listening to other people. Praise and encouragement from
adults help children to develop self-confdence and the motiva
tion to take on further challenges. Young children love to learn
new ideas. School so often squelches their desire to learn.
Just imagine this situation. A mother tells her two-year old,
"Now I am going to teach you to talk." She proceeds to spend a
half hour every day for a month having her child memorize
nouns: " Mommy, Daddy, truck, cookie, " and so on, giving her or
him the words that she thinks the child should know. During that
period the child is to practice nothing but the given nouns. The
mother ignores anything the child might say the remainder of the
day and any words that are not on the list. The following month
she " teaches" the child verbs. Now she drills her or him on specifc
verbs and nouns during the daily half-hour lesson on "learning to
talk," but continues to pay no attention to the child's speech at
any other time or to words that she hasn't " taught."
Ridiculous, isn't it? But if you substitute "math" for "talk,"
"teacher" for" mother," and " addi tion and subtraction" for "nouns
and verbs," you have a picture of the "teaching" that goes on in
many early-grade classrooms. But teachers are not at fault. It is
our whole factory like educational system that is at fault.
I still recall my feelings of complete confusion in second
grade when I returned to school after a three-week illness and
found the class doing subtraction. I had fgured out my own
methods of working with numbers-numbers held no fears for
me. What I found bewildering was the terminology the teacher
was using and the procedures that we were to follow in our
written work. I soon caught on, but I can imagine how frustrat
ing it must be for a student to fnd himself or herself in a perma
nent state of bewilderment about school math.
An experimental (at present) early childhood mathematics
program at the University of Wisconsin rests on the premise that
kids enter school knowing quite a lot of math! With this ap
proach, teachers in the Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI)
1 3 7
S C H O O L MATH I S NOT N EC E S S AR I LY RE AL MATH
program listen to the children, rather than trying to impart a
prearranged body of knowledge. They make decisions about the
kind of problems that each child can handle on the basis of the
child's responses. Children use a variety of strategies and are
expected to justify their thinking. Math happens at any time of
the day and in connection with a variety of activities. As for test
scores, these children far outrank those students who spend a
good deal of time on routine drill and practice.'
Many of my respondents recall their early experiences as
rote memorization of the multiplication tables and other arith
metic facts. Connie (age 22), finishing college with honors, re
calls a fourth-grade teacher who hit the children with a ruler
when they made mistakes in their multiplication facts. To this
day she has no confdence in her ability, in spite of her excellent
high school math grades.
Years after completing school, Margaret still felt guilty

about her inadequacies in math. She remarked to her college

algebra teacher: " Whenever I come to your class I feel like I am
going to vomit. I never learned my multiplication tables and I
feel so guilty about it that it makes me sick." With some reassur
ance from the instructor and a little help from her husband, she
quickly filled in the gaps.'
Not only was rote memorization of facts the main goal , but
these facts had to be regurgitated fast! Flash cards and the need
for speed were responsible for many a stomachache. But John
(age 24) loved them. In the elementary grades, "math was fun
because of its ease. Flash cards made learning more fun." A good
example of the male competitive spirit!
Another bugaboo of elementary math is long division. A
mother and her sixth-grade daughter were waiting with me in
the doctor's offce. For a half hour the girl worked in a desultory
fashion on her math homework, a page of division exercises, then
pleaded with her mother to be allowed to fnish at home. Her
mother was adamant that she must continue with the pencil
and-paper computations. As I was leaving I looked at the instruc
tions in her textbook: "Estimate the answers, then check with
your calculator." Why wasn't she following the instructions? "My
mother won't let me use a calculator, " she complained. Not only
was she failing to learn the important skill of estimation, so
useful in real life, but she was learning to hate math.
An incident in my college class for future teachers brought
1 3 8
S C H OOL MAT H I S NOT N E C ES S AR I L Y RE AL MAT H
home to me the power of the teacher as authority, not to be ques
tioned. I had posed this situation: "Suppose that your students
have learned how to multiply a two-digit number by a one-digit
number. Now you would like them to multiply by a two-digit
number. Form groups and come up with a lesson plan."
I asked for a volunteer to teach the lesson, while the rest of
us pretended to be fourth graders. Beth was the brave one, and
proceeded to demonstrate with the product of 34 and 1 2 :
34
" 1 2
"Two times 4 i s 8, and 2 times 3 is 6. " She wrote:
34
? 1 2
68
1 3 9
S C H O O L MATH I S NOT N E C E S S ARI L Y RE AL MATH
"Then you multiply one times 4, and write the 4 under the 6,"
and so on-an absolutely correct procedure.
34
? 1 2
68
34
408
All the students said that they understood perfectly, with one
exception-me. I raised my hand and asked: "Teacher, why did
you put the 4 under the 6, and not under the 8?"
Immediately every young woman (this was a single-sex
school) turned on me with the cry: "But that's how we were
taught! " They assumed that I was challenging the correctness of
the procedure, rather than the concepts that underlie the proce
dure. It had never occurred to them to ask "why?" Their teachers
were the authority, the last word, not to be questioned.
Many students learn "how" but not "why." Jeanette (age 46)
wrote about her college math courses: "I had long since resigned
myself not to understand very much, and as long as I did this
and just memorized the appropriate information, I did very
well-even got A's and B's! " It was only after she had become an
elementary school teacher that she began to understand the con
cepts that had eluded her in the past. In order to "explain the
whys of math, I had to read different explanations of what it all
meant, and how to proceed step by step. " As a result of her self
teaching, math doesn' t scare her any longer, and she can deal
confdently with her students.
Ruth (age 42) is also an elementary school teacher. Her
story is just the opposite of Jeanette's. "Failed math in ffth
grade-total lack of skills-plus fear-inability to to compre
hend any math-rote learned it. " She feels okay teaching up to
sixth-grade math, but "total freeze if I'm being taught some
thing new." She can't think of any way to overcome her fear.
"Math makes no sense-especially when I go absolutely blank
if someone tries to teach me. Even discussing math makes me
forget everything."
With constant drill, children usually become adept at com
putation. Solving real problems is another matter. Textbook
"story problems" are worded in such a way that children learn
to look for key words. For example, the word "left" in a problem
1 4 0
S C H OOL MAT H I S N OT N E C E S S AR I L Y RE AL MATH
Estimate and Live!
The ability to estimate might have saved lives. Accord
ing to an item in the New York Times (29 August 1987, p.
32):
A tractor-trailer driver looking at a calculator in
stead of traffc triggered the fery chain reaction colli
sion on the New Jersey Turnpike near Cherry Hill
that killed six people and injured thirteen, the au
thorities said today.
The truck driver . . . was driving between sixty and
sixty-fve miles an hour, calculating his mileage,
when his truck rammed into a car and plowed
through seven other vehicles.
The driver had been hauling peanut butter in a rented
truck. He was in stable condition with leg and face burns.
Suppose you wanted to estimate your mileage per gal
Ion of gas. What is the procedure? Let's say you drove
487 miles and used 19. 3 gallons of gas. You need to di
vide 487 by 19. 3. You can get a good enough estimate by
rounding the numbers to 500 miles and 20 gallons.
500 0- 20 50 0 2 " 25. Your gas mileage is about 25
miles per gallon. Now try some examples of your own.
means subtraction. It isn't even necessary to read the whole
problem; just subtract the smaller number from the larger num
ber. Besides, every problem on the page is done exactly the same
way. No need to think at alll It doesn't take long for children to
internalize the idea that understanding has no relationship to
school math.'
Children look for certain clues in the wording of the problem
or examine the type of numbers given, to guide them as to
whether to add, subtract, multiply, or divide. But even when
they do use the correct operation, the answer may not make
sense. A problem similar to the following appeared on a national
1 4 1
S C H O O L MATH I S N O T N E C E S S ARI L Y RE AL MATH
test: " A school is ordering buses for a trip. Each bus can hold
ffty people. How many buses will be needed for 1 25 children?"
Many students gave the answer 2V" or 2 with the remainder 25.
The context of the problem was completely irrelevant. Did they
visualize 2V, buses?
Emma (age 45) is an organizer in the educational commu
nity and a self-taught artist. For her, the context is most impor
tant. As a child in Puerto Rico, she could not accept math as
presented-rote memorization of facts and procedures. But her
questions went unanswered, and she fnally resigned herself to
giving the expected responses. She ran into real trouble in a New
York City junior high school. Math tests had to be written neatly
in ink, with no crossing out or erasures. "The teacher picked on
me a lot because of my poor English." In high school she was
assigned to "Record Keeping" instead of mathematics. Thus
ended Emma's encounter with school math.
After working and going to school part time, Emma received
a scholarship to a prestigious liberal arts college to study psy
chology. Because she was a top student, the one-course math
requirement was waived. Eventually she earned a doctorate in
Human Relations, specializing in race, class, and gender issues
in education, a program with no statistics requirement. Al
though she has no trouble with budgets and shopping, she
avoids analyzing graphs, for example, when she studies a report,
preferring to read the fgures. "I imagine my own graph . . . . I
guess if I had been interested in math, I would have found some
creative ways of dealing with the subject."
Textbook word problems give just enough information to
enable the student to arrive at the one and only correct answer,
using the one and only correct method. Real life is seldom so
accommodating. When we handle real problems, it may be nec
essary to eliminate extraneous data or to do further research.
How do we deal with facts that contradict one another? Mathe-
1 4 2
S C H OOL MAT H I S NOT N E C E S S AR I L Y R E AL MAT H
Same Number, Diferent Awer
The following examples all involve the same numbers
and the same operation. But the answers are all different.
I. Divide 1 25 by 50.
2. 1 25 employees are going to a picnic by bus. Each
bus holds 50 people. How many buses must be ordered?
3. A carton of milk costs 50 cents. How many cartons
can I buy if I have $ 1 .25?
4. Fifty pieces of ribbon, of equal length, are to be cut
from a spool of ribbon containing 1 25 m (meters) of rib
bon. Find the length of each piece, to the nearest centime
ter (cm). (One meter equals 1 00 centimeters.)
Answers:
( 1 ) 2, remainder 25; or 2V,; or 2.5
(2) Three buses
(3) Two cartons of milk
(4) 2 m and 50 cm; or 250 cm
In response to a question similar to the one about the
number of buses, a student in a low-income neighbor
hood suggested that the extra passengers squeeze onto
the smaller number of buses to save money. CK-1 2 Test
ers Offer Poor Defense of Multiple-Choice Items," FairTest
Examiner 6, 1 [Winter 1 991 -1 992]: 7.)
maticians often have to experiment with several different meth
ods of solving the problem before them. Real math is never so
cut-and-dried as the textbook implies, or as presented by many
teachers, especially college professors.
School math may even get in the way of solving real prob
lems. At a summer workshop for elementary school children, I
set out an open square box of pasta shells. The participants were
to guess how many shells were in the box, and then place signed
slips of paper with their estimates in a closed container. At the
end of the afternoon several children counted the shells. Most
1 4 3
S C H O O L MAT H I S N OT N E CE S S AR I L Y RE AL MATH
Word Pblems. Word Pblems
This problem. by Gary Hendren, was labeled " Special"
and published on the Problem Page of the Missouri Coun
cil of Teachers of Mathematics Buletin (March 1992).
Don't be alarmed. The introduction to the problem
stated: "This problem is meant to be read aloud for fun
rather than solved."
A rope over the top of a fence has the same length on
each side, and weighs one-third of a pound per foot.
On one end hangs a monkey holding a banana, and on
the other end a weight equal to the weight of the mon
key. The banana weighs two ounces per inch. The
length of the rope in feet is the same as the age of the
monkey, and the weigh t of the monkey in ounces is as
much as the age of the monkey's mother. The com
bined ages of the monkey and its mother are thirty
years. One-half the weight of the monkey, plus the
weight of the banana is one-fourth the sum of the
weights of the rope and the weight. The monkey's
mother is one-half as old as the monkey will be when
it is three times as old as its mother was when she was
one-half as old as the monkey will be when it is as old
as its mother will be when she is four times as old as
the monkey was when it was twice asoldas its mother
was when she was one-third as old as the monkey was
when it was as old as its mother was when she was
three times as old as the monkey was when it was one
fourlh as old as it is now. How long is the banana?
Now try an easier problem!
off the mark in her estimate was the invited guest, a college
administrator. She had used-or misused-a dimly remem
bered formula and arrived at a fantastic result. The kids with
the best answers explained their procedure: Count the shells in
the top layer, estimate the number of layers, and multiply.
1 44
S C H OOL MATH I S NOT N EC E S S A R I LY RE AL MAT H
Temperature Converion Made Easy
The United States is the only major country that has not
yet converted to the metric system in practice. When
you're in Canada and you hear that the temperature is
ten degrees, or an announcer in the Caribbean tells you
it's in the low thirties, what does it mean? You can ob
tain a good enough approximation by carrying out this
estimation method mentally.
Estimation Method:
If Celsius temperature is given, double the number
and add 30 to arrive at Fahrenheit temperature, the
scale used in the United States.
If Fahrenheit temperature is given, subtract 30 and
divide the answer by 2 to arrive at Celsius tempera
ture, the scale used in most countries.
Let's test the method by starting with 10 Celsius:
10 x 2 20; 20 + 30 " 50. 10 Celsius "
(approximately) 50 Fahrenheit .
How does 30 Celsius translate?
30 X 2 " 60; 60 + 30 " 90. 30 Celsius
(approximately) 90 Fahrenheit.
As a check, change the Fahrenheit temperatures back to
Celsius.
Suppose you forget which operation comes frst. That
happens to the best of us. Remember that on the Celsius
scale water freezes at 0, and the freezing point on the
Fahrenheit scale is 32". Try out the procedure you think
is correct by converting the freezing temperature from
one scale to the other. If it doesn't give you the right
answer, make adjustments in the procedure until it
works-good practice in mathematical thinking.
Here are the accurate formulas.
Let F stand for Fahrenheit temperature. Let C represent
Celsius temperature.
F ( 1 .8 X C) + 32. C " (F 32) 1 .8
(Continued)
1 4 5
S C H O O L MATH I S N OT NE C E SSARI L Y RE AL MATH
Temperature Converion Made Easy
(contnue)
mn
0
0 ---------
lP06 .ZIZ'
90
80
70
60
O
40
30
ZO-
10
_t: ..L
(c * ZF
-10-
-20
, )3

liZ
40^
I
lvV
lV

100
80
60
0
?
Z0
O
O
Cel sI us Fahrenhei
Compare the Scales on the Thermometers
Both the correct formulas and the approximation proce
dures give the same results when the temperature is
SO'F " IO'C.
T Nei: Algeba, Gmet, an Cacuu
Henry (age 1 7), a student in a summer bridge program, met his
nemesis in seventh-grade algebra. His failure in the course was
the beginning of his dislike of math. "It was too many rules for
1 4 6
S C H OOL MAT H I S NOT N E C E S S AR I L Y R E AL MATH
too many different problems. In high school I was put in 'shop
math: meaning that's the lowest in school." He fnally took the
frst-year algebra course in eleventh grade. "I never was good in
math, and I hate it with a passion. "
Bob Moses's Algebra Project i s designed for students like
Henry. Back in the sixties, Bob Moses left his job as a math
teacher to become one of the foremost activists in the struggle
for the right of blacks to vote in Mississippi, and to organize the
Freedom Schools in the South. Moses became involved again
when his daughter found that algebra was not available at her
middle school. He began to work with the students, teachers,
and parents at the school to introduce algebra to all students
instead of just a select few. The Algebra Project developed from
these beginnings and is now becoming part of the curriculum in
several large cities. Starting in sixth grade, the curriculum
builds on life experiences to make the subject accessible to
young people who might not be considered likely candidates for
abstract math. Imagine learning about directed (positive and
negative) numbers by riding the transit system to the city center
and back!'
The traditional high school geometry course was supposed
to train people in deductive logic. It failed dismally with many
students. "Better to teach logic with minute mysteries," re
marked a perceptive high school student. Vivian (age 1 7) consid
ers geometry " the worst man-made subject ever. The proofs were
murderous, as well as the word problems. Everyone that has
taken geometry says that they hated the proofs and the word
problems." Vivian is right about geometry being "man-made."
The ancient Greek philosophers started it. With their reliance on
slave labor to give them leisure time, they engaged in the type of
argument that gave rise to the proofs that bedevil high school
students today.
Not only do many students learn to hate geometry proofs,
but they even lose their ability to solve geometric problems by
using their informal everyday knowledge, according to Dr. John
Volmink of Cornell University. Children aged 10 to 1 6 were given
several geometry problems and were permitted to use concrete
materials to solve them. The younger children displayed greater
creativity and flexibility than the older ones, who had al
ready taken the standard high school geometry course. Volmink
concluded that the spontaneity and self-confdence shown by
1 4 7
S C H O O L MAT H I S NOT N E C E S SARI L Y RE AL MATH
\ .
. :+kt ...
.
- Q:/ _;t (1 ! -
e, o
@ j
fatltf !?
o6 elJ.
hCj"t'v O} '

c|JI
A
vd.-r

-

-
.
1 .lj'.'" '
~-

I
0/
;,
!
younger children may be suppressed after they have studied
formal school geometry because these powers are never called
into action ' With the technology that is now available, the na
ture of geometric investigation is changing. Using up-to-date
calculators and computers, students can take the initiative in
testing various hypotheses about geometric relationships.
An experimental secondary mathematics program is under
development in California. Called The Interactive Mathematics
Project, it encourages students to investigate a variety of real
life or imaginary situations from the mathematical point of view
and at the same time engages them in many branches of
mathematics-algebra, geometry, number theory, probability,
logical decision-making. The titles of the projects are suggestive
of their content; The Game of Pig (a probability game), The Pit
and the Pendulum (based on the Edgar Allan Poe tale), Do Bees
Build It Best? (what is the best design for a honeycomb?), and
Leave Room for Me! (a study of the growth in the world popula
tion). For more information, contact EQUALS (see "Resources"
at back of book).
Enrolling in a college math course after a long lapse can be an
overwhelming experience. Beverly (age 27) had dropped out of
high school after tenth grade. "I was introduced to algebra in
college. It is like learning a new language for me. It just goes too
fast and I don't get enough repetition to really learn it. I like to
understand thoroughly before going to the next step. I fnd col-
1 4 8
S C H OOL MAT H I S N OT N E C E S SAR I LY R E AL MAT H
lege too fast-paced for that. Seems like I don't really grasp one
concept before we are on to another."
Jane (age 20) loved math in elementary and high school. She
was even considering a math major-until she took college alge
bra. "My dislike for math began after I entered college because
they no longer took their time teaching the subject step by step. In
stead it was a short cut here and a short cut there. I never over
came my dislike for math; instead I became content knowing that
I passed it and would never have to be bothered with it again."
By the time students take calculus they are expected to be
able to read the textbook. In my day we called our text a "cook
book. " Unfortunately for most students, "cookbook calculus" is
still being taught. Anyone who can read a recipe should be able to
read the calculus text and follow the directions. They need only
memorize the symbols and defnitions! The why and the where
fore of this very dynamic and useful subject remain a mystery to
many students. Although I had been a straight-A math major, I
never really understood the calculus until I studied it again as a
reentry student twenty years after college graduation.
Martha (age 24), a premed college graduate, remembers her
enjoyment of precollege math in Haiti. "The teachers used meth
ods that made the problems fun, and we did not have to memo
rize the formulas." Her experience in a New York college was
just the opposite. "The diffculty I had with calculus was mostly
due to the memorization of a lot of formulas which were in
volved in solving the problems."
Marni (age 24), an elementary school teacher, had been a
great math student until she got to calculus in college.
In college I started Calculus I. I could understand all of
the concepts as it was mostly a review of high school
[calculus]. However, this is a known "weeder" course. I
felt, even though I knew the material, that there was no
way I could compete with the pre-med students and engi
neers. I became very stressed. After the frst exam I
dropped the course, never to take another math class.
I think that a real help would have been in college, if
there had been less emphasis on "weeding" people out of
math and more on keeping people (expecially women)
in. My T.A. [teaching assistant) did nothing to keep me
from dropping (not even a word). I think if places like
1 49
S C H O O L MAT H I S N O T N E C E SSARI L Y RE AL MATH
Wor into Agebr
A kind of test problem has been posed to many groups in
several countries. It sounds simple, yet a large portion of
high school and college students, as well as college fa
culty in nonmathematical felds, gave wrong answers.
Problem: North Star College has six times as many stu
dents as professors .
Let S represent the number of students.
Let P represent the number of professors.
Write an algebra sentence to show the relationship
between students and professors.
Which sentence is correct: 6S " P (6S means 6 X S)
or 6P S ???
One way to check is to replace the variables S and P
with some reasonable numbers. Go back to the frst sen
tence in the problem: "six times as many students as
professors. " That means one professor has six students.
Start with the sentence: 6S P. Substitute 6 for S, and
one for P.
The sentence becomes: 6 " 6 " I . This is obviously a
contradiction! Work with the sentence: 6P " S. Replace
the P with one, and the S with 6.
The sentence becomes 6 " 1 " 6. This i s correct.
Therefore 6P " S is the correct algebraic sentence.
Now for a real situation involving the student-faculty
ratio. According to a story in the Ne York Times ( 1 9 Octo
ber 1988, B8), Spelman College, a historically black
women's college of 1 ,750 students, was considering plans
to decrease its enrollment by 100 students. School off
cials wanted to "keep its faculty-student ratio at an aver
age of 1 5 to one."
This reporter got i t wrong. He obviously meant 1 5 stu
dents for each faculty member. He should have said:
"keep its student-faculty ratio at an average of 1 5 to one."
The order of the words "student" and "faculty" tells the
order of the ratio " I S to one."
1 5 0
S C H OOL MAT H I S N OT N E CE S S AR I L Y R E AL MAT H
[my university) had all women's sections with women
T.A.s, they could make women students feel more com
fortable and perhaps more would pursue math and sci
ence courses and careers.
Some college mathematics departments are aware of the
issue and are trying to do something about it. One solution is to
humanize the way calculus and other college math courses are
taught. The mathematics department of the State University of
New York College at Potsdam, under the chairmanship of Dr.
Clarence Stephens, won accolades for doing just that. Instruc
tors imbue the students with the confdence that they can learn
the subject, provided that they are willing to work at it. During
most of the class period students work together in informal
groups, discussing and arguing about the concepts and proce
dures. The instructor is regarded as a coach, not as the author
ity, and is available for outside help when needed. During the
period 1 985 to 1987, an average of 24 percent of the graduating
classes were mathematics majors, in contrast to 2 percent for
the nation. Stephens, an African American, had taught for
merly at Morgan State University, a historically black institu
tion in Maryland, where he inspired many African-American
students to continue in the feld of mathematics.'
When Kunzen (age 1 8) wrote her math autobiography, she
was studying advanced calculus while working as a tutor and
draftswoman. In spite of her claim that she "didn't have an
aptitude for math" in elementary school, she learned to love
the subject in high school when she "fgured out the trick to
being good at it. You have to learn the concepts." How right
she is!
Laring Mathmatics in th Conteporar Worl
People tend to think of mathematics as a frozen body of knowl
edge, put together sometime in the past by a few geniuses,
mainly white males of European heritage who had "mathemati
cal minds." This impression is way off the mark. Mathematics is
an ever-evolving feld, and even young people can contribute to
it. A good example is the annual Westinghouse Talent Search
among high school seniors. Every year students come up with
original research projects in mathematics and science.
1 5 1
S C H O O L MAT H I S NOT N E C E S S ARI L Y RE AL MATH
One need not be a genius to do original mathematics.
Children-and adults, too-often use their own invented strate
gies to solve problems, regardless of the methods they are sup
posed to have learned in school. Young children rely to a great
extent on counting, including fnger counting, a practice that is
no longer taboo. An invented strategy is a person's own process,
is based on that person's understanding. Naturally, it is more
meaningful than a memorized procedure, something that is
soon forgotten because it is barely understood. People who de
vise their own methods are doing real math!
How can math be presented to all people so that it's both
meaningful and interesting? Why are out-of-school programs
successful in involving the very same students who fnd school
math a boring experience?
Listen to this Latina student talk about the contrast be
tween her four-week summer program on math, science, and
sports for "average" minority junior-high girls, and her school
experience: "In Eureka science we get to do experiments every
day and discuss and help our peers, but in school science you
can't talk among your friends about the work or you will get
into trouble . . . . You can't experiment every day in school be
cause you are supposed to cover a certain amount of work by
the end of the year."I.
In a ground-breaking 1989 report, the National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) voiced tremendous concern
about the implications of the poor math performance demon
strated by students in the United States, and called for a com
plete transformation of school mathematics at all grade levels.
Furthermore, the processes of evaluation must assume entirely
new forms to free mathematics education from the "tyranny of
testing." Other reports also dealt with the need for reform and
made specifc recommendations for the revision of both school
and college mathematics education.1
1
Their proposals include
these goals:
Students should be able to think mathematically to solve
real problems. A problem involves a situation for which no
solution is immediately apparent. Students should be able
to make conjectures, see relationships among different as
pects, apply their skills to carry out computations, check
their results, and explain the reasoning behind the proce-
1 5 2
S C H OOL MATH I S N O T N E C E S S AR I LY R E AL MATH
dures. In other words, they must develop their higher-level
thinking skills.
A variety of experiences should be incorporated into the cur
riculum to enable students to develop those higher-level
thinking skills. People learn by constructing their own
knowledge. They extract new information from their experi
ences and relate it to what they already know, building to a
higher level of understanding.
At all levels, mathematics education must embrace such
topics as algebraic thinking, computation, measurement,
geometry, statistics, probability, mental arithmetic, estima
tion, and approximation.
Students should become familiar with applications of mathe
matics, and be able to see the relationship of math to other
subject areas.
All students should have experience with calculators, com
puters, and a variety of materials for exploring mathemati
cal concepts. In a move to have students spend more time
learning math concepts and solving challenging problems,
Chicago public schools began in 1988 to provide free pocket
calculators to all students in grades four through eight. 1 2
The learning climate should incorporate high expectations
for all students. They must feel free to ask questions and take
risks, without fear of punishment for wrong answers. They
should not be held back on the grounds that they have not
mastered the so-called "basic" skills of computation. They
should have opportunities to work with other students and
to discuss their work.
Teachers must be educated to handle the new curriculum
and methodology.
New ways of assessing learning must be evolved, to supple
ment or replace the present multiple-choice tests with their
narrow range of objectives.
These proposals stand in sharp contrast to the practices in
most classrooms, where students are passive receivers rather
than active learners. Someone made the apt remark: "Math is
not a spectator sport. " Young people in these classrooms miss
out on the sense of accomplishment that comes with solving a
tough problem, the feeling of empowerment in knowing that
they are capable of mastering this "hard" subject.
1 5 3
S C H O O L MAT H I S N OT N EC E S S AR I LY RE AL MATH
Settlement of Pequot Indian Claims
In his 3 May 1 983 letter to the New York Times, Robert G.
High discussed the $900,000 settlement of a claim by the
Pequot Indians. Congress had approved of this settle
ment by a unanimous vote. The president, however, re
jected i t as too expensive. He proposed to pay "the worth
of the land at the time of original sale-$8,091 . 1 7 for the
Pequots-plus interest . " Little did he realize what his
proposal implied. At a rate of only 5 percent, com
pounded quarterly from 1 856, the date of the sale, the
sum would be about $4.5 million, fve times the amount
granted by Congress.
It would seem that the Pequots were getting the short
end of the stick. No wonder Congress approved unani
mously! To quote Mr. High: "The Pequots might be well
advised to take the President up on his generous offer."
I had the good fortune to have taught in a New York State
district that was known nationwide for desegregating its schols
in 1 95 1 , three years before the historic Supreme Court decision.
Our mathematics department made every effort to encourage
students to continue in mathematics beyond the one year re
quired by the state. In fact, the department chair dismissed sev
eral probationary teachers because their racist attitudes turned
students away. We developed our own mathematics curriculum
for those students who either did not qualify for or did not choose
to follow the prescribed college-bound sequence, although they
could transfer at any time to the academic courses. In the twelfth
year course we concentrated on graphing, probability, and statis
tics, often using newspaper articles and government data as a
source of problems. This gave students the opportunity to review
such necessary topics as decimals and percentages in a setting
that respected their intelligence, and at the same time to discover
the relevance of mathematics to the real world.
One of the most successful series of lessons involved an analy
sis of data for the fve census areas included in our school district.
First I drew a map of the district, showing the census-based sub-
1 5 4
S C H OOL MAT H I S N OT N EC E S S AR I L Y RE AL MAT H
The abacus helps children to understand grouping and place value.
This Japanese abacus, called the soroban, shows 27,091 .
(Photograph by Sam Zaslavsky.)
divisions. and made a copy of the relevant data for each
subdivision-average income. educational level. employment.
housing. etc. All the students were given copies of all the materi
als. Then they worked in small groups. each group analyzing
different aspects of the quality of life in the fve areas. As they
constructed and compared their tables and graphs. the contrast
between the predominantly white middle-class areas and the
low-income and predominantly African-American sections be
came stark and vivid. The students' semiconscious awareness of
the injustice of the situation was brought out into the open. Lively
discussions ensued. not only in math class but in their social
studies classes as well. Some students were stimulated to do simi
lar research on other topics."
Almost any topic of current interest lends itself to mathe
matical treatment. Many issues are of both local and world sig
nifcance and can be adapted to any level. from elementary to
college-population growth. preservation of the environment.
sources of energy. health care. taxation. expenditures for the
military and for human services. and the comparative well
being of the different strata of our population and of the peoples
of the world. Not only do these topics involve several branches of
mathematics-computation. graphing. statistics. probability. ge
ometry. measurement. and the use of technology. as well as the
calculus at higher grade levels-but they also integrate mathe
matics with other subject areas and deepen students' awareness
of the world around them.I'
1 5 5
S C H O O L MAT H I S NOT NE C E S S ARI L Y RE AL MATH
"Increase" Means "More"-But How Much?
My friend, a very competent teacher of high school
French, asked me to give her a lesson in percentages.
She knew how to compute students' test grades, a pro
cedure she had memorized years before, but she really
didn't understand the concepts that lay behind the
procedure.
The writer of the following passage in Senior Citizen
News (August 1 992, page 8) may have had similar diffcul
ties with percentages:
In 1 98 1 , the Medicare Part A hospital deductible was
$204. Today it is $652-an increase of over 300 per
cent. The Part B premium was eleven dollars a
month in 1 98 1 . Today it is $31 .80-again a 300 per
cent increase.
What's wrong with these fgures? Let's frst consider
the numbers for Part A: $204 in 1 981 and $652 in 1 992.
The amount of the increase was over $400. Round the
numbers to hundreds for convenience. Comparing the
$400 increase with the original amount of $200, we see
that the increase is two times the original amount. This
translates into a 200 percent increase, not the increase of
300 percent stated in the article.
A similar analysis of the Part B premiums also leads to
a 200 percent increase, in round numbers.
Perhaps the writer meant to phrase the comparison
differently. It would have been correct to say: " Medi
care premiums today are three times the premiums in
1 98 1 . " Using percentages, a correct statement would
be: " Medicare premiums today are about 300 percent
of the premiums in 1 981 . " Think of one whole any
thing as being 100 percent; then three whole things
are 300 percent.
1 5 6
S C H OOL MATH I S NOT N E C E S S ARI L Y R E AL MAT H
Pepl's Math
" Ungracious and uncaring" is how the author of one auto
biography characterized mathematics as she had experienced
it. The Brazilian historian and philosopher of mathematics Dr.
Ubiratan D'Ambrosio agrees with her. He wrote: "I share the
feelings of Gustave Flaubert when he says, 'Mathematics dries
up the emotions.' The general public feels this way, and it is
sad. We need more emotions, more passion, more love in the
world. Mathematics is not against this, has not been through
out history, but after the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
it became the champion of an inhumane rationalism. I am
against this."l
S
D'Ambrosio and others are looking at mathematics from a
different perspective, from the cultural point of view. This new
feld is called "ethnomathematics," the study of the mathemat
ics developed by groups of people in the course of their work or
during other aspects of their lives. All cultures develop mathe
matical ideas in accordance with their needs and interests. No
branch of mathematics can be more "applied" to real life, and
anyone can contribute to this feld.
Dr. Paulus Gerdes, a mathematician in Mozambique, speaks
of "hidden" or "frozen" mathematics. "The artisan who discov
ered [a new) production technique did mathematics, developed
mathematics, was thinking mathematically." One task of the
ethnomathematician is to unfreeze this frozen mathematics. to
rediscover the hidden mathematics in the pratices of a particu
lar culture.
16
It is generally agreed that societies in Asia, Africa, and the
Americas developed mathematical ideas independent of and of
ten earlier than western Europe by hundreds or thousands of
years, and laid the basis for developments in western Europe, yet
these contributions have often been ignored. Recent scholarship
is attempting to fll in the gaps, to overcome the Eurocentric
focus, an important area of work for ethnomathematicians. 1 7
Some educators and publishers are beginning to incorpo
rate cultural and historical perspectives into the mathematics
curriculum, as Judy Richards did with African culture in her
third- and fourth-grade classroom. Math comes alive as stu
dents learn that mathematical practices arose out of the real
needs and interests of all societies. Such practices include
1 5 7
S C H OOL MATH I S NOT N EC E S S AR I LY RE AL MATH
Africans and Mental Arithmetic
The Dutch trader William Bosman wrote at the begin
ning of the eighteenth century about West African trad
ers: "They are so accurately quick in their Merchandise
Accompts, that they easily reckon as justly and as quick
in their Heads alone, as we with the assistance of Pen
and Ink, though the Summ amounts to several Thou
sands; which makes it very easie to Trade with them."!
Thomas Fuller ( 1 71 0-1 790), known as the African Cal
culator, was brought to America as a slave at the age of
fourteen. He may have come from a family of traders,
for he was amazingly adept at mental arithmetic. For
example, he could multiply two nine-digit numbers. Al
though he could neither read nor write and was forbid
den access to any kind of schooling, as were all slaves,
his reputation was such that antislavery advocates cited
him as evidence of the high mental capacity of Africans.
One man asked him the age in seconds of a person who
was 70 years, 1 7 days, and 1 2 hours of age. Fuller gave
the answer in one and a half minutes. Meanwhile his
questioner was working it out with pencil and paper.
When this man came up with a different answer, Fuller
reminded him that he had neglected the leap years. It
turned out that Fuller's calculation was correc!.'
' William Bosman. A ^\' and Accurte Description of the
Coast of Guinea ( 1 704) (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1 967),
352, quoted in Claudia Zaslavsky, Africa Counts: Number and
Patter ill African Culture (New York: Lawrence Hill Books,
1 979), 289.
2 John Fauvel and Paulus Gerdes, .. African Slave and Calcu
lating Prodigy," HislOria Mathematica 1 7 ( 1 990): 1 41 -1 51 .
systems of number and measurement, patterns i n art and archi
tecture, games of skill and games of chance. Students have
the opportunity to learn about mathematical contributions of
women and of non-European societies, a generally neglected
area of mathematics. They can take pride in their own heritage,
1 5 8
S C H OOL MAT H I S NOT N E C E S S AR I L Y R E AL MAT H
and at the same time become familiar with and learn to respect
the cultures of other societies."
Certainly the cultural diversity of the American people rivals
any in the world. Yet we ignore the math that various groups have
developed and the way that they process mathematical informa
tion. A New York City elementary school teacher, in an effort to
jolt educators into providing more relevant curriculum materi
als, wrote a paper on black children's exposure to number con
cepts through the illegal numbers game. She described the
system of hand gestures used to denote the numbers, and added,
"When numbers are not legal, these gestures are used as double
talk around the cops. " People with scant education develop the
skill of remembering numbers for years. The concept of probabil
ity is recognized, as well as an awareness of odd and even num
bers. Data are collected and recorded by pictures or by symbols.
She concludes: "Certainly if teachers could in some way use some
of this number logic with children, or at least recognize their
familiarity wi th numbers when they meet them, perhaps number
games based on Playing the Numbers might be substituted for the
boring activities now presented to children."
1
9
Understanding and connecting to the students' environment,
providing an interesting context, is an important aspect of teach
ing mathematics, according to Dr. Gloria Gilmer, president of the
International Study Group on Ethnomathematics. "The context
engages them, and when they are engaged, they think . . . . We
have a lot of sterile problems, like 'add these monomials.' Well ,
[the students] get al l kinds of weird answers on that because i t
doesn't mean anything to them. To me, mathematics i s extraordi
narily flexible. The context of the problem can always be shifted.
Mathematics interfaces with ordinary life in so many ways, we
don't have to be stilted in formulating problems for students."10
Feminine interests are receiving attention in some pro
grams. In the Maths in Work Project, based in London, Mary
Harris utilizes the mathematics inherent in traditional women's
work with textiles. For example, she compares the mathemati
cal aspects of a design for a right-angled cylindrical pipe in a
chemical factory with the mathematics of knitting the heel of a
sock, and raises the question: Why is the industrial problem
considered real mathematics, while the knitting problem is not
taken seriously as valid mathematics?"
Symmetry is a feature of women's work with textiles-
1 5 9
S C H O O L MAT H I S NOT N E C E S S ARI L Y RE AL MATH
Maths in Work poster, comparing the "real maths" of abstract geometry
with the "girls' stuff" of quilting patterns.
(Courtesy of Mary Harris. Photograph by Sam Zaslavsky.)
repeated patterns in knitting, quilting, weaving, embroidery.
The broadened mathematics curriculum includes the study of
symmetry, with applications to the arts of many cultures." But I
often wonder whether girls in our society are interested in this
type of so-called "women's work." Perhaps applications to base
ball and karate would be more appropriate!
At Clark Atlanta University, a historically black institution
in Atlanta, the chair of the mathematics department, Dr. Ab
dulalim Shabazz, weaves culture and history into his teaching.
He wants his students to "know that in their past, in their
history, in their heritage, they have achieved greatness in the
mathematical sciences." For example, he points to the fact that
1 6 0
S C H OOL MAT H I S NOT N EC E S S AR I L Y R E AL MATH
Symmetrical patterns in Hungarian embroidery. Two articles on sym
metry in Hungarian folk needlework were published in the
Joural of
Chemical Education (1 984 and 1985). Symmetry is symmetry, whether
in art or in molecular structures!
(Photograph by Sam Zaslavsky.)
Pythagoras and other Greek mathematicians had studied in
Egypt and built upon this foundation. He has had extraordi
nary success in developing mathematicians; it is estimated that
approximately half of the African-American mathematicians in
the United States were either his students or students of his
students."
In a determined effort to increase the participation of Native
Americans in math-related felds, a culturally based curriculum
for elementary and secondary grades has been developed. The
activities, appropriate for many ethnic groups of American Indi
ans, are designed to supplement the regular curriculum and to
be used in classrooms that include both Native American and
other students. The program includes teacher training and the
involvement of parents, with a view to reducing anxiety and
emphasizing the importance of mathematics in today's society."
A number of programs have been developed with the goal of
bringing more young people of color into mathematics and sci
ence. (See the "Resources" at the back of book for descriptions of
some of these programs.) Some have introduced multicultural
1 6 1
S C H O O L MAT H I S N OT NE C E S S ARI L Y RE AL MATH
aspects, as, for example, the TexPREP program, headed by Dr.
Manuel Berriozabal, professor of mathematics at the University
of Texas at San Antonio. Most of his students are Hispanic, and he
brings in references to the Aztecs and the Maya, "to give students
an appreciation of the mathematics of other cultures . . . . But, as
far as becoming a mathematician, there is nothing that substi
tutes for hard work and achievement. "
2S
I will close this chapter about school math with a modern
fairy tale, a true story that took place in New Hampshire in the
1 930s. L. P. Benezet, superintendent of schools in the city of Man
chester, was convinced that formal teaching of arithmetic oc
curred much too early i n the curriculum. Over a period of several
years he instituted in some classes an experimental program in
which there was no formal teaching of mathematics in the frst
fve years of schooling. Rather than exposing children to a spe
cifc curriculum, teachers had them deal with numbers as they
came up in the course of various activities. They handled toy
money while making change, carrying out all the operations men
tally. They estimated heights, lengths, areas, and distances, and
checked their estimates by taking measurements. At the same
time, students were getting a great deal of practice in reading,
reasoning, and reciting. By the end of sixth grade the experi
mental students surpassed the traditional classes in standard
arithmetic tests.
In one year, during sixth grade, these students had mastered
a curriculum on which others had spent six years, but with
poorer results. Moreover, they had a stronger understanding of
mathematical concepts and could explain them with ease. These
experimental students were not children of the well educated.
No, they came from working-class homes where not one parent
in ten spoke English as their frst language!"
Dr. Hassler Whitney liked to tell this modern fairy tale. As he
often said to people who claimed they couldn't do math, "You
never had a chance to see or do real math, which is easy and
fun."27 Surely the Manchester children would agree.
1 6 2
CHAPTER SEVEN


Everbody Can Do Math:
Solving the Problem
Three years ago I fnally had an opportunity to devote my time
in a meaningful and productive way to learn the mathematics
that I'd never studied in high school. I know I could have taken
the Algebra-Geometry-Algebra sequence at any night school,
but I didn't want computation; I wanted understanding, con
nections, knowing.
The Interactive Mathematics Project began offering the frst
year of a three-year curriculum to replace the traditional
high school sequence. Its focus is on concepts, with Algebra
Geometry-Algebra being used as tols and as only part of the
repertoire which can be called upon to solve and think about
problems. June 1992 will mark the end of three years of partici
pating in a high schol mathematics curriculum of the highest
quality. I have learned a tremendous amount, and I am not done
yet!
The experience of doing and thinking mathematically has
provided me with skills which transcend the discipline of
mathematics. It has also resulted in my seeking out and enjoy
ing mathematical challenges. (Who would ever have thought I
could or would say that?!) The more you do, the more you
learn.
I can't resist an analogy about overcoming fear and dislike of
math. When I was pregnant, my husband and I chose to join
Lamaze classes. My expectation from these classes was not
that they would mean the elimination of pain. Rather, knowing
as much as I could ahead of time would affect my fear of the
unknown. Minimizing the fear would allow me to control the
pain.
-Mary Jo Cittadino, Mathematics Educator,
EQUALS, University of Califoria at Berkeley
Eveybody Uses Math
''I'm just a housewife" is a frequent excuse for avoiding math.
But the woman who considers herself "just a housewife" is using
1 6 3
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN D O MATH
math all the time. She measures ingredients, changes recipes to
accommodate the number of people to be fed, times her cooking
and baking, computes the cost of her purchases and checks her
change, and budgets her expenditures, either formally or infor
mally. Like the majority of women today, she may also hold an
outside job that requires her to plan her time down to the min
ute to take care of the millions of tasks that burden her busy life.
"Just a housewife" uses geometric as well as arithmetic con
cepts. She knows that potatoes cook much more quickly when
cut into small cubes than when left whole, although she may be
unable to prove a theorem relating the surface area and the
volume of a solid body. She probably doesn't think consciously
about similar shapes when she enlarges a dress pattern to ft a
growing daughter. She may use a good approximation to a yard
length, as my mother did when she stretched the material from
the fngertips of her extended arm just past her nose, although
she was unaware of the standardization of the yard many centu
ries ago as the distance from the nose to the tip of the out
stretched arm of an English king. And the measure that we still
call a "foot" was originally anybody's foot, before there was a
need for standardization.
The Palestinian mathematics instructor Munir Fasheh writes
eloquently of his mother's mathematical knowledge: "My illiter
ate mother routinely took rectangles of fabric and, with few
measurements and no patterns, cut them and turned them into
beautiful, perfectly ftted clothing for people . . . . [Mathematics)
for her was basic to the operation of her understanding. In addi
tion, mistakes in her work entailed practical consequences com
pletely different from mistakes in my math . . . . Mathematics was
integrated into her world as i t never was into mine."1
In a study to determine how people use arithmetic in shop
ping, twenty-fve adults, mainly women, talked into a tape re
corder while shopping for groceries in the supermarket. As they
compared prices and quantities, they employed good problem
solving strategies and mental arithmetic. To corroborate their
performance in the supermarket, the shoppers participated in
simulated buying situations in their own homes. Working with
actual prices and quantities, they had to determine which
among several choices were best buys.
But these very same people, confronted with a pencil-and
paper "school-type" test involving the same kind of problems,
1 64
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN DO MATH
Not much surface area Lots of surface area
Both have the same volume
not only made many more errors, but reverted to school-like
behavior! For instance, they talked about not cheating, and
asked questions such as: "May I rewrite problems?" Although
they rated over 90 percent, on the average, in the supermarket
situations, their achievement level was only 59 percent on the
paper-and-pencil tests.'
Giovannae Dennis, one of the few female African-American
physicists and engineers, got her start in math and science right
in her own childhood home. Even before she started school her
mother showed her how to work with and alter dress patterns,
and her father encouraged her to help him build and fx things.
But boring school math and science turned her off, and she was
placed on probation in fourth, ffth, and sixth grades. Finally her
mother, in desperation, bribed her to earn A' s. Eventually the
bribes petered out, but by that time she was sold on math and
science. Now she designs and fabricates solid-state microwave
devices for IBM.'
Susan (age 30) discovered that she really knew more than
she had given herself credit for. Returning to college after many
years, she brought her math phobia with her. "At frst the same
fears were there. I told myself this is crazy-you know how to do
this. I changed my attitude toward it. I found myself really enjoy
ing doing problems." Susan attributes her turnaround to her
maturity and to the support and cooperation of an understand
ing friend.
Susan's experience bears out the results of research with
working people returning to college for further study. Interviews
with 4,500 adult learners at Empire State College in New York
State revealed that the women students, now in their upper
twenties and beyond, had more confdence in their academic
ability than had their male counterparts, and went on to gradu
ate in greater numbers.4
We must give ourselves credit for the mathematics that we
1 6 5
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
1o Plus 1o or Wy Indians Flu
b Berly Slpin
All right, class, let's see who knows what two plus two is.
Yes, Doris?
I have a question. Two plus two what?
Two plus two anything.
I don't understand.
OK, Doris, I'll explain it Hyou. You have two apples and
you get two more. How many do you have?
Where would I get two more?
From a tree.
Why would I pick two apples if I already have two?
Never mind, you have two apples and someone gives you
two more.
Why would someone give me two more, if she could
give them to someone who's hungry?
Doris, it's just an eample.
An example of what?
Let's tr again-you have two apples and you fnd two
more. Now how many do you have?
Who lost them?
YOU HAVE TWO PLUS TWO APPLES!!!! HOW MANY
DO YOU HAVE ALL TOGETHER????
Wel l , if I ate one, and gave away the other three, I'd
have none left, but I could always get some more if I got
hungry from that tree you were talking about before.
Doris, this is your last chance-you have two, uh, buf
falo, and you get two more. Now how many do you have?
It depends. How many are cows and how many are
bulls, and is any of the cows pregnant?
It's hopeless! You Indians have absolutely no grasp of
abstractions!
Huh?
(Reprinted with permission from Through I"dian Eves:
The Native Experience in Books for Children, ed. Beverly
Slapin and Doris Seale [Philadelphia, Penn. : New Soci
ety Publishers, 1992).)
1 6 6
E VE R YB ODY C AN D O MATH
The Language of Mathematic
Mathematics and ordinary conversation often use the
same words but may have different meanings. It's one
thing to be able to carry out various kinds of computa
tions. With calculators and computers the task can be
easy. It's another thing to know how to work with the
data. How are the different numbers related to one an
other? What are we trying to fnd out? Understanding
the language is crucial to working out the problem.
Several different expressions may indicate the same
operation. For example, we can read the expression: 3 +
5, as:
Add three and fve The sum of three and fve
Three plus fve Combine three and fve
Three increased by fve Five more than three
If your home language is not academic United States
English, or you attended school in another country, the
diffculties are compounded. Words and phrases that
have certain meanings in English may have opposite
meanings in other languages. You may have learned a
perfectly valid procedure or format for an operation,
only to be told: "That's not the way we do it here."
For example, all of the following expressions indicate
the same operation:
24 . 6 or 24/6 or 6)
In English the teacher might say: "Let's divide 6 into 24"
or "Let's divide 24 by 6" or "How many times does 6 go
into 24?" or "How many sixes in 24?"
In Spanish the teacher might say: "Vamos a dividir 24
entre 6." The literal translation is "Let's divide 24 into
6," which is understood to mean: "Let's divide 24 into 6
parts. " The Spanish expression reverses the order of the
two numbers in the common English expression: "Di
vide 6 into 24. "
No wonder people are confused. Even English speakers
often get it wrong!
1 6 7
E VE R YB OD Y C AN D O MATH
do know, rather than feeling "dumb" about the mathematics we
feel we should know. We all discover mathematical ideas, have
mathematical experiences, and formulate opinions about as
pects of mathematics. This statement, that everyone can do
math, doesn't imply that math must necessarily be learned in
school, with textbooks and formal teaching. Most of the math
that the average person uses today grew out of people's experi
ences over a period of many centuries. Some inventors and dis
coverers were not even literate, yet they used math to count, to
measure time and space, to construct, to exchange goods, to
design beautiful patterns, and to play mathematical games.'
We learn best when we can integrate the new information
with knowledge we already possess. We can use our home-grown
methods of problem-solving to complement the more abstract
information we acquire from teachers and texts. In that way we
have control over our learning; the new information is now ours.
We are not merely absorbing bits and pieces that have no rela
tionship either to one another or to our previously acquired
knowledge. On the contrary, we are using this new material to
construct a greater whole, enriching our understanding in the
process.
Lring Stl
If I were to write my autobiography, I might have a section
called "Fear of Food Processors. " Some years ago we had ac
quired a food processor just before I left home for a week-long
engagement. During my absence my husband, Sam, an engineer,
fgured out the workings of the machine and made good use of it.
The day after my return, Susan, a professor of computer science,
visited for lunch. Both Sam and Susan offered to show me how
to use the processor. With an expert standing on each side of me,
calling out directives-"Push that button! " "Don't put your fn
gers there! " "Move the bowl!"-I was soon so confused that I
gave up completely. I must confess that the food processor re
mained unused on the shelf ever since that incident. Every once
in a while I would tell myself that I will learn to use it as soon as
I have fnished this book (article, project, etc.). I rationalized
that washing the parts and putting the thing together again is
too time-consuming, or that there is no point in learning to use
this old model when the newer ones are far superior, and so on.
1 6 8
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN D O MATH
But deep down I know that this one bad learning experience had
really soured me on food processors. Finally I gave it away to a
local church bazaar. Please don't follow my example. This is not
the solution I recommend to math avoiders!
I understand my own learning style. When confronted with a
new task or problem, I like to examine and mull over all aspects
before tackling the job. With a new piece of equipment, I try to
fgure out the function of each part of the machine and how the
parts ft together. Then I read the instruction manual, compar
ing the written directions with the information I have worked
out on my own. Finally I am ready to use the gadget. I operate i t
slowly, integrating my observations with the knowledge I have
already acquired. In other words, I want to take control of my
own learning. I must admit that I use the telephone and drive a
car with only a limited amount of information about their inner
works, and when my car doesn' t start, I wish I knew more.
People vary in the way they process information. Children
with different types of personality traits and backgrounds come
together in one classroom and are expected to conform to the
instructional style of the teacher and to adapt to the methodol
ogy of the teaching materials. The resulting mismatch may have
a profound effect on children's ability to learn.
Cecilia (age 1 8) represents such a mismatch. She was attend
ing a summer bridge program to prepare for college when she
wrote: "I always had the fear that math problems should be
done quickly and I'm incapable of doing so. It usually takes me
twice as long than another student to complete a problem. " Evi
dently her teachers did not recognize her style of learning, and
this failure diminished her self-confdence and ability to learn
math.
Many factors enter into a consideration of personal styles in
learning mathematics. Among them are:
Preference for working alone or working in a group
Preference for a competitive or a cooperative environment
Preference for oral or for written methods
Manner of tackling a new situation or problem
Reflective style (mulling over the problem) or an impulsive
style (giving the frst answer that occurs to you)
Speed of work
Persistence in staying with a task
1 69
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN DO MATH
Need for outside encouragement and reinforcement, or a go
it-alone attitude
Willingness to take risks
Spatial, numerical, logical, kinesthetic, or other approaches
to problem solving
Educators now point to the need to recognize and under
stand cultural differences in the way people learn. The competi
tive, individualistic, "every person for himself or herself" style of
teaching so common in our classrooms is completely at odds
with the cultural norms of many ethnic groups. Children who
grow up in a milieu that stresses cooperation may be turned off
by a competitive classroom environment. Speed and flashcards
are anathema to them. Children who are accustomed to family
and group discussions to solve problems may be unable to ac
commodate to the teacher who expects students to sit quietly
and fll in blanks on worksheets. And I believe they are right to
resist this kind of instruction!
In her insightful book, Afrming Diversity, University of Mas
sachusetts professor Sonia Nieto states: "Most schools favor a
highly competitive and individualistic instructional mode. In
this kind of environment, dominant-culture children and males
are more likely to succeed, whereas students from other cultural
groups and females may be at a distinct disadvantage. By com
bining this style with a more cooperative mode, the learning and
cultural styles of all children can be respected and valued.'"
"Is there an [American] Indian learning style?" asks Floy C.
Pepper. She answers her question in these words:
A growing body of research suggests that the child
rearing practices of European-American and Indian par
ents produce notably dissimilar styles of learning among
their children. Sharing, cooperation, group harmony,
modesty, placidity and patience are greatly prized among
Indian families, while competition with others and singu
lar notoriety are considered embarrassing and dishonor
able instigators of dissonance. The European-American
youth is taught to compete against others and win, to
" make a name" for himself or herself. . . .
The danger of stereotyping lurks beneath the determi
nation of one learning style for all. . . . No absolute In-
1 7 0
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN D O MAT H
dian behavioral learning style exists. There is a wide
variety of individual differences which can be viewed as
tendencies.?
Pepper's warning against stereotyping applies to all cultural
groups, to women and to men. The styles that we are discussing
are tendencies, not absolutes.
WoM's Ways of Kng Are Not for WoM Only
The typically "feminine" socialization of girls i n our society
causes them to blame themselves when they don't achieve i n
school mathematics. They have been brought up to depend upon
outside authority, to feel powerless and not in control of their
lives. Afraid to venture their own opinions for fear of being chal
lenged and crushed, they dutifully accept math as it is generally
presented-a collection of rules and procedures devised by some
kind of magic. The authority-the teacher or the textbook-is
not to be questioned. Usually speed is a factor in school learning,
ranging from flashcard drill to timed standardized tests. There
is little opportunity for exploration, nor is thoughtfulness ex
pected. The one right answer is the goal and rote memorization
is the only way to achieve that goal. Anyhow, it all makes no
sense and has no relevance to women's own lives or to the real
world.
No wonder many girls lose confdence as they enter the
middle grades. And confdence in their ability to learn mathe
matics is one of the main factors that determine whether young
women will continue in math. Compared with boys who achieve
on the same level, girls are far less confdent of their abilities. It
i s important to note that these conclusions apply to the white
middle-class students who have been the main subjects of re
search in this area of learning.S
My own experience with students of all ages convinces me
that math as taught in school doesn't make sense to many boys.
It's not only girls who fnd it hard and unappealing. But white
middle-class boys are more likely than girls to have career goals
that include a background in mathematics. Encouraged by the
expectations of their parents and teachers, and with the future
in mind, they are more willing to stick i t out.
The authors of several recent books have explored women's
1 7 1
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN D O MATH
Mysterous Arithmetic
In 1 879 the U. S. Training and Industrial School in Car
lisle, Pennsylvania, opened its doors to American Indian
students. The goal was to separate them from their people
and turn them into "white" people. They were forbidden
to wear traditional dress, to practice their customs, or to
speak their own languages.
Sun Elk, from the Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, tells
about his seven years at Carlisle. "They told us that In
dian ways were bad. They said we must get civilized. It
means 'be like a white man.' "
Part of "getting civilized" was learing arithmetic. As
Sun Elk tells i t:
It was lessons: how to add and take away, and much
strange business like you have crossword puzzles
only with numbers. The teachers were very solemn
and made a great fss if we did not get the puzzles
right.
There was something called Greatest Common De
nominator. I remember the name but I never knew
it-what it meant. When the teachers asked me I
would guess, but I always guessed wrong. We stud
ied little things-fractions. I remember that word
too. It is like one half of an apple. And there were
immoral fractions.
-Peter Nabikov, ed. , Native American Testimony: A
Chronicle of Indian-White Relations from Prophesy to
the Present, 1492-1992 (New York: Viking, 1991),
222.
No doubt, to the schoolmasters' way of thinking, only a
thin line separated "improper" from "immoral. " I won
der, are children still being taught "proper" and "im
proper" fractions? On a deeper level, of what value was
Sun Elk's out-of-context "education" in arithmetic?
1 7 2
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
ways of learning. Two aspects stand out: cooperation and con
text. Women fnd it emotionally satisfying to work with others, a
style that is discouraged in most classrooms. Secondly, a woman
wants to know the context of any particular problem or proce
dure, how it relates to what she already knows, how it fts into
her world. These authors categorize styles of reasoning as "sepa
rate," referring to traditional abstract ways, and "connected" or
"relational," the style more typical of women.'
Ellen (age 20) expresses her longing for meaning in mathe
matics. "I have now reached the point where I no longer enjoy
math. I spend hours working problems to come up with a wrong
answer. Or if the answer is right I have no idea what it means. I
feel that ' learning' this information is a waste of my time be
cause we are not taught how to generate the problem which we
are solving."
The way math is generally taught in school favors the mas
culine mode of learning, say instructors who have worked with
math-fearing adult women. Men of the dominant culture are
socialized to be individualistic and competitive. Their upbring
ing, their experiences in and out of school, accustom them to
deal with ideas in the abstract, not necessarily in a relevant
context. Men talk more than women, claims Deborah Tannen,
author of You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conver
sation, and are eager to exhibit their skills in argument, to
prove themselves right-and the other person wrong. Women
are more likely to look for positive aspects, for areas of agree
ment with their colleagues, and are reluctant to be challenged
publicly.
1O
Does a competitive, rather than a cooperative, atmosphere
motivate people to learn better? In a competition a few win, but
most people lose. In her best-selling book about self-esteem,
Revolution {rom Within, feminist author Gloria Steinem refers to
psychologists' studies and concludes: "In fact, a competitive sys
tem perpetuates itself by keeping self-esteem low and making
even the winners constantly needy of more success. "l l
Educators investigating the affective aspects of learning
fnd that working in collaborative groups improves the learning
of all students. As for context, people naturally relate best to
that which is most meaningful, whether in terms of what they
already know, or their environmental or cultural background.
1 7 3
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
In sum, women's ways of knowing are the preferred ways of
most people.
1 2
Dr. Dorothy Buerk, a mathematics professor at Ithaca Col
lege, has applied ideas about women's ways of knowing to the
learning of mathematics.13 Adult math-avoidant students, both
men and women, have profted from her insights. Among the
principles she enumerates are:
Experience the problem, relate it to your personal world,
clarify the language so that i t makes sense to you.
Rely on your intuition and feelings; use a contextual mode of
thinking.
Look at the limitations of any solution to a problem and the
conflicts that remain.
Make exceptions to the rules when you think it is appropriate.
Be reluctant to judge.
Buerk suggests that mathematicians actually do work on the
basis of these principles when they develop their mathematical
ideas. It is mathematics instrction that is at fault by giving an
entirely different impression about the feld of mathematics.
Students don't realize that mathematicians often flounder in
their search for a solution, that they may work with many con
crete examples before they can generalize, and that they can
experience great joy, as well as dismal depression, in the course
of their work.
Cooperative learning is one key to the success of the Mathe
matics Workshop Program at the University of California at
Berkeley. Mathematician Uri Treisman set up this program to
deal with the poor performance of many African-American and
Latino students in the diffcult frst-year calculus course. Al
though they had been outstanding students in their high schools,
they were unable to cope with the stiff academic demands at the
same time that they made the multiple adjustments to college life
that face minority students in predominantly white institutions.
First Treisman investigated how the African-American fresh
men studied. They worked very hard, but they worked alone. In
fact, they refused to ask for help when they were unable to solve
the assigned problems, fearing that it might be a reflection on
their ability, and thus reinforce the negative stereotype that mi
nority students had been admitted inappropriately. In contrast,
1 7 4
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
A
Unslved Pblem
One of the myths about mathematics is that math is
complete, that everything has already been discovered.
All we can do is study what others have done.
To disprove that false idea, I will give you an example
of a problem that has not been solved, although people
have worked on i t for over two and a half centuries. The
nice part is that you don't need more than elementary
school arithmetic to understand the problem.
In the 1 700s a mathematician named Goldbach stated
his theory:
"Every even number larger than two can be ex
pressed as the sum of two prime numbers. "
A prime number i s a number that i s divisible (without
remainder) only by one and by the number itself. The
frst few prime numbers are 2, 3, 5, 7, I I , 1 3, 1 7, . .
Examples of Goldbach's theory: 8 " 3 + 5; 1 0 " 3 + 7
or 5 + 5.
The number 10 can be expressed as the sum of two prime
numbers in two ways.
No one has been able to prove that Goldbach's theory,
called "Goldbach's conjecture," is either true or false.
It has been true for every even number ever tested.
Since there is an infnite number of even numbers, it
is not possible to test all even numbers. That's the big
diffculty.
Now, if someone were to discover just one even num
ber that cannot be expressed as the sum of two prime
numbers, we would know that the conjecture is false.
Only one counterexample is needed to prove a theory
false. To date, the conjecture has been neither proved
nor disproved.
1 7 5
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN DO MATH
Asian students would frst work on the assignment alone, then
get together in "study gangs" to criticize each other's solutions
and work on the diffcul t problems. These groups also served as
centers of social life and for mutual help with all types of prob
lems. But when Treisman tried to set up remedial groups for the
black students, they rejected the proposal as unnecessary.
After considerable thought, Treisman developed the Mathe
matics Workshop, a program that stresses academic excellence
and supports growth of a student community around shared
academic interests. Students work individually on challenging
mathematical problems-problems that are even more diffcult
than those in the regular assignment. After they have done their
best work alone, they join other students for further exploration.
A faculty person is called upon only when no one in the group is
successful.
The goal of the Mathematics Workshop, a project of the Profes
sional Development Program, is to foster leadership skills and
promote academic excellence in minority students. In the mathe
matics sessions, participants are encouraged to discuss all as
pects of the problem, not merely to look for answers. The program
has been outstanding in developing independent learners who
complete college and go on to successful careers or graduate
study in the sciences and mathematics. By 19920verone hundred
universities nationwide had adopted this program."
You Can Oecom
Many of the people attending college today are not like the tradi
tional students of the past. Some are considerably older. Some
are victims of gender, race, and class biases that have affected
them both academically and psychologically. These "nontradi
tional" learners may not be prepared for the usual college math
courses. Most colleges have set up remedial courses and tutoring
laboratories to help them to make up the work they should have
mastered in precollege institutions. For various reasons, these
measures are not always successful. Recall Alberta's comment
in chapter I : "The tutor that I had made me feel dumb, so I never
returned . . . . I ended up failing the course. "
Take heart from Marcia's experience. A student at the same
college as Alberta, she was more fortunate in her choice of in-
1 7 6
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MAT H
structors and tutors. As a child in Guyana she had always feared
and hated math "with a passion. " After flunking out of one col
lege because of failing math grades, she found success at last
with a patient instructor and tutoring four times a week.
Alberta and Marcia should have been Mary's friends. Mary
(age 19) describes herself as having a "gifted talent for mathe
matics. I inherited that trait or talent from my mother." In high
school she held study sessions with her friends. "First they had
to open up to me and let me know what caused them to be afraid
of math. For many of them fear was caused by themselves be
cause they psyched themselves into believing that math was
something that could not be accomplished."
Many instructors who have worked with college students in a
variety of settings-college-level mathematics courses, develop
mental or remedial courses, math labs, and counseling clinics or
workshops-have developed successful methods to help people
overcome fear and avoidance of mathematics. Their students
ranged in age from recent high school graduates (or dropouts i n
some cases) to senior citizens. The programs i n which these stu
dents were enrolled varied from the two-year college associate
degree to graduate school. Some students, long absent from the
academic scene, needed to polish their skills and to rebuild conf
dence in their ability to do mathematics. For others, unpleasant
experiences in their early school years had convinced them that
they were "dumb" in math. People with inadequate math back
grounds for the careers of their choice constituted another group,
people who were behind their fellow students either because they
had not chosen earlier to take the necessary courses, or because of
societal conditions beyond their control . Some of the people in
volved in these studies were math avoiders, others were math
fearers, and still others were rusty in math. Many people suffered
from all three conditions. Fear of math had led to math avoid
ance, and, consequently, to the loss of some of the skills they had
once possessed.
The following recommendations have helped many of these
people.
h
HcVcW Ea8 IXgcMcUcc8
It seems that most of the people with whom I talked while gath
ering material for this book have suffered in some way from
1 7 7
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN DO MATH
experiences that undermined their confdence in their ability to
do math. A helpful procedure in bolstering confdence is to re
view the experiences that led to this condition, to talk about
them with other people, and to elicit their experiences. It's so
comforting to know that you are not alone!
Examine your feelings about mathematics. If you dislike or
fear the subject, try to pinpoint the incident that frst turned you
away from math. Perhaps it all started with a humiliating expe
rience in an elementary school classroom-failure to under
stand a particular topic or stumbling over the multiplication
tables. How did you feel when you had to take a math test? Often
the physical symptoms of anxiety-headaches, stomach pains,
diarrhea-persist into adulthood in such severe form as to pre
vent the victim from learning at all. Some clinics offer relaxa
tion exercises to help students overcome these intense emotional
reactions to mathematics. Ruedy and Nirenberg recommend
that you tell yourself many times a day and write on all your
memos: " I am brilliant! "
16
"For most members of the public, their lasting memories of
school mathematics are unpleasant-since so often the last
mathematics course they took convinced them to take no more,"
states the report Everbody Counts."
This was certainly true of Molly (age 28). "I had my frst
diffculty with math i n intermediate algebra. I didn't get help
from teachers, which put me behind. As a result my confdence
level dropped way down. I felt inadequate and therefore was
embarrassed to go for help. Intermediate algebra was the last
math class I took in high school . " Years later she enrolled in a
college course which was "basically a replay of high school alge
bra. I didn't go for help when I needed it and procrastinated on
my assignments. I got halfway through the course and with
drew." Eventually she learned "that it is not unusual for math
students to have to work very hard at understanding con
cepts . . . . Now I have fun at math. It gets harder every class I
take, but I really do believe that I can learn the course content if
I am willing to expend enough effort to learn."
Greta (age 31 ), who grew up in Germany, had a similar expe
rience. " I hated math and I hated school in general. . . . I don't
even know how I went through the last grades and I remember
nothing about math . . . . [In college] I am forcing myself to
study. I think that's the biggest problem: to get going. Once I do
1 7 8
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MAT H
it, it is okay. I don't know why i t is hard to get going; maybe old
math memories from school. "
Juanita (age 50) feels that she got through elementary and
high school math by using unconventional methods, "which
worked to get me to the correct answer without really solving
any problems," or by copying from her classmates. In college, "I
swore I would never do another math course as long as I lived. I
was faithful to this promise until I decided to pursue graduate
work and was required to take statistics." She passed with the
help of a tutor. "I am currently a doctoral candidate with the
burden of having to keep a tutor 'on retainer.' But my lack of
math background has cost me more than just money. My self
esteem is the pits when I think of my defciencies in math. I am
embarrassed by my condition and only recently have I acknowl
edged that I must do something. I have made some efforts to
overcome my anxiety and I have been improving. But I believe I
will always think of myself as math illiterate."
Many ra thephobics dislike ra th because they have formed
a mistaken view of what mathematics is all about, and their
school courses have done nothing to enlighten them. In the previ
ous chapters are some examples of the scope of mathematics
the many usefl and interesting applications and the new feld
of ethnomathematics. Mathematics is a creative, dynamic, grow
ing area of thought and action, not at all the dull, dry, dreary
subject that most people have been taught in school.
Joan (age 34) makes an appeal that should be heeded. "Most
of the people, younger or older, who fear math justify their fear
with anger over the thought they are learning something that is
only useful to satisfy a school requirement. If some type of in
struction or orientation was given about the validity and useful
ness of math in all subjects, it would perhaps begin to turn fear
into curiosity. Positive reinforcement at the early levels also
seems to be a very critical factor."
RDazcYuUt IcaWDg btc
Students often feel lost and powerless because of the mismatch
between the style of teaching they encounter in the classroom
and their own personal learning style. Analyze your style of
learning and try to adapt the task at hand to that style. At the
same time work on broadening your approach so that you can
function successflly in many kinds of situations.
1 79
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN D O MATH
Why Not Divide by Zer?
Why don't we divide by zero? For a couple of reasons;
both refer to multiplication by zero.
First let's see how multiplication and division are re
lated to each other. For example, 6 - 3 " 2. We check by
multiplication: 3 x 2 " 6.
Multiplication and division are considered inverse op
erations. One operation is the inverse of the other.
Now let's see what happens when we divide by zero.
Let's say that 6 0 " N, where N stands for some
unknown number. To lind the value of N, we'll refer to
multiplication: 0 x N 6.
Even i f you haven't memorized the multiplication
tables, you know that zero times any number is zero.
There is HO number that makes this statement true:
o x N 6. Therefore, 6 0 has no solution.
Be careful not to confuse division by zero with divid
ing zero by a noo-zero number. For example, consider
o - 6 " N The corresponding multiplication problem is:
6 x N " O. N must be equal to zero; no other number
(Continued)
It's never too early lO learn that you can't divide by zero!
1 80
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
Why Not Divide by Zero? (contnued)
makes the statement true. Therefore, zero divided by a
non-zero number equals zero: 0 6 " O.
Now consider this case: zero divided by zero. Follow
the same procedure.
Let's say that 0 - 0 " K, where K stands for some
unknown number. To fnd the value of K, we'll set up a
corresponding multiplication problem: 0 x K " o. Lo
and behold, K can be any number: 3, 7. 9, -2
'
, 0, etc. Zero
times any number is always zero.
So we have two cases involving division by zero:
A non-zero number divided by zero has no solution.
Zero divided by zero has an infinite number of
solutions.
Isn't math amazing?
IXgcMcDccIachVUcm
Reading a mathematics book is far different from reading a
novel, an essay, or a history book. You will probably have to go
over one section of the text several times. Have paper and pen
ready. Make notes in an organized way. Write down new terms,
defnitions, symbols, and ideas. After you have studied the
worked-out examples, close the book and try to do them your
self. Note any aspects that you don't understand and get help as
soon as possible. Don't just gloss over them and hope that you
will catch on sometime i n the future.
The introduction of concrete math materials in elementary
classrooms has helped to make math comprehensible to young
children. But what about adults who never had the beneft of such
concrete forms of learning? It isn't too late for them. Instructor
Phyllis Steinmann uses Cuisenaire rods and Algebra Blox of her
own design to investigate the properties of numbers and relation
ships in algebra. She sees her role as that of a facilitator in helping
students to construct their own knowledge by studying and re
flecting upon patterns, attributes, and relationships. By no means
1 8 1
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
Manipulating Algebr
Algebra tiles are similar to the Base Ten materials de
scribed on page 22. A set of algebra tiles includes:
Small squares, representing ones or unils
Strips measuring one unit by x units
Large squares measuring x units along each side
What do I mean by a measurement called "x units"? The
tile labeled x represents the variable. In practice, x can
be any convenient length.
Example: Use the tiles to fnd the product of (x + 2) and
(x + 3).
Procedure: Form a rectangle having the dimensions (x +
2) by (x + 3), using as few tiles as possible.
What is the total value of the tiles in the rectangle?
The rectangle contains one large square, fve strips,
and six units. Therefore:
(x + 2)(x + 3) " x' + 5x + 6
Example: Factor the expression: x + 5x + 6.
Procedure: Combine the following tiles to form a rec
tangle:
One large square (x'), fve strips (5x), and six units
(6).
The dimensions of the rectangle are (x + 2) and (x +
3). Therefore:
x' + 5x + 6 " (x + 2)(x + 3)
Negative quantities can be represented by tiles of a con
trasting color.
Example: Find the product of (x
-
1 ) and (x + 3).
Procedure: Form a rectangle having the dimensions (x
-
1 ) by (x + 3).
The rectangle contains one large square, three posi
tive strips and one negative strip, and three negative
units. Therefore:
(x
-
l )(x + 3) " x' + 2x
-
3
(Colltinlled)
1 8 2
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
1 1 x
l
W
X X
x
1
1
1
.
(
X
+
2
)
-
X
2
X X
X 1
1
(X+3)
X
1 1
X
1 1
(X + 3) -
*
(X- I)
1 1
x 1 1 1
1 8 3
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN DO MATH
are concrete materials only for remedial use. Mathematicians,
too, use them to elucidate knotty problems. They are particularly
appealing to people who learn best by touching and feeling.I'
Bob (age 20) would certainly have benefted from the use of
concrete materials. In the lower grades, subtraction with re
grouping-often called "borrowing"-was a complete mystery
to him. "My real frustrations in math came in Algebra 1. Algebra
is and will always be one of those words I despise. Only one
concept, a very important one I might add, troubled me in
Albegra, and that was factoring."
The following suggestions for solving problems are based
on my experiences and those of several other concerned math
instructors. These suggestions may not apply to every situa
tion. You will have to use your own judgment. But the more
fully you experience each mathematical encounter, the more
skilled you will become in solving problems in the future and
the more you will enjoy doing mathematics.
Simplify the language and restate the problem in your own
words.
List the given facts and the relationships among them. What
are you asked to fnd?
Work with the given information in several different ways
make a table, draw diagrams, use concrete materials, etc.
Relate this problem to other mathematical ideas that are
similar i n some ways, and note both the similarities and the
differences.
Relate the problem to your own experience. Try to form
mental images that involve the given information. Teacher
and therapist Elisabeth Ruedy says: "I love teaching math
by imagining, drawing, thinking in context, trial and error.
In short, I love teaching it away from the dry, left-brain,
step-by-step, there-is-only-one-way methodology that scares
away the more creative, dreamy child or adult not so inter
ested i n precision and linear thinking (but bent on fully un
derstanding the task at hand)."19
Work out some simpler examples of the same relationships
and use these examples to discover a pattern.
Arrive at an approximate answer that seems logical.
Hopeful ly, work out a solution.
Check the solution in more than one way, if possible. Is it
1 84
E VE R YB ODY C AN D O MAT H
Ar We All Violent Crminals?
It is said that we often learn more from our errors than
from our successes. Here is an opportunity to lear fom
someone else's mistakes.
According to an editorial in the Ne York Times (25
January 1 992) entitled "Death, Life and the Presidency, "
in 1 990 states executed 23 murderers. "These constituted
less than .001 percent of all murderers that year," said
the editorial.
Statements like these arouse my curiosity. How many
murderers were there in 1990, I wondered. This is how
my thoughts ran:
If 23 executed murderers " .001 percent of all mur
derers, then (multiplying both numbers by 1 000)
23,000 murderers " 1 % of all murderers, and (multi
plying both quantities by 100) 2,300,000 murderers
1 00% of all murderers. Wow! Is it possible that
2,300,000 murderers live in our midst?
I read the next statement in the editorial: "These [23
executed murders] were only .000004 percent of all vio
lent criminals."
I continued with my analysis:
If 23 executed murderers " .000004% of all violent
criminals, then (multiplying both quantities by
1 ,000,000) 23 million " 4% of all violent criminals,
and (multiplying both numbers by 25) 575 million "
1 00% of all violent criminals. The population of the
United States was about 250 million in 1 990. In
other words, there were over twice as many violent
criminals in the country as the entire population!
Something must be wrong!
I didn't look in the "Corrections" section of the newspa
per the following days to see whether they had found the
(Continued)
1 8 5
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN DO MATH
Ar We All Violent Criminals? (cont|nued)
errors. Who reads the corrections, anyhow? The damage
had been done.
Moral: Always check to be sure that your answer is
reasonable.
close to your approximation? If an answer key is available,
use it. That's not cheating! If you have not been able to reach
a solution, you may be able to use the answer in the key to
work backward, and then put i t all together .
Think about your solution. Might you have done the prob
lem a different way? I often wonder at myself-why did I
solve it by such a roundabout route when I could have done
i t more effciently in a way that would give me what mathe
maticians like to call an "elegant" solution. All of this experi
ence is valuable, not a waste of time. That's how math
should be done.
Explore further. Make up similar problems. Change some of
the conditions i n the problem and investigate "What if
not? . .
_Z
Even if you don't get the answer, keep all your work. Learn
to fnd your errors and to analyze the nature of your mis
takes, one of the best learning experiences. Arrange your
work i n a way that will enable you to go back and review
your thinking processes. Use a pen, or a pencil without an
eraser, so that you won't be tempted to erase what you have
written before you have gone over your work and found the
errors. You may fnd that you have wrong answers for your
calculus problems simply because of careless mistakes in
arithmetic or i n elementary algebra. In computer program
ming they call it "debugging." Most computer programs
have bugs i n them initially, and debugging may be more
time consuming than devising the original program. Com
puter programmers expect that to happen.
Don't let frustration get you down. Take a rest from the
problem by doing something else-another problem or a
different activity. I fnd that taking a shower helps me to
1 8 6
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN DO MATH
think clearly. I wonder how many problems have been
solved in the shower!
Carlos (age 1 8) had a tough time with mathematics for a
while. Then he learned to relax. "Now I have learned not to
pressure myself into learning material all at once, but to take
my time and relax when I am studying."
Shelly (age 40) wrote: "Now that I' m, let's say, a mature stu
dent I realize that what math requires is time. Most people get
frustrated and aren't willing to spend the time that it requires so
therefore they dislike it. I think if other subjects come easy for
some students and then they hit math and it doesn't come as easy,
they think they don't have the aptitude for i t and don't really try. "
In chapter 2 I spoke about Herbert, the man who needed a
better-paying job in order to adopt a child. His frustrations re
sulted from studying too much. " I study six or seven hours a day
but it doesn't seem to do any good," he told his instructor, Phyllis
Steinmann. Her response was inspired. "I want you to stop study
ing so many hours a day. There will be a limit of no more than two
hours, and not that long if you find you are becoming frustrated."
She promised him a grade of C if he agreed to her conditions.
Reluctantly he went along with her. With the promise of a passing
grade he relaxed enough to earn a B in the course!"
Helene Walker was i n her sixties when she earned her doctor
ate in mathematics after working at it for thirteen years. She
wrote in her math autobiography: "If you don't see how to do a
problem immediately, that doesn't mean you can't doi t. You have
to give it thought and give it time to jell in your mind. Let it rest a
while, then go back to it-you will have a fresh perspective."
1utNuW Mca08RWHctcFJhaU Uc
Sharing experiences with others i n a small group, or even with
one other person, is helpful in several ways. It's reassuring to
know that you are not the only one having trouble with math.
Furthermore. each person can contribute her or his viewpoint
about the problem at hand, thereby leading to a richer solution
and a more valuable experience for each member.
In her work with a small group of intellectually able but
math-avoidant women, Dorothy Buerk frst had the participants
"experience" the problem individually. Afterwards they got to
gether for a group discussion.
1 8 7
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
When discussion did ensue, the focus was on the ques
tion rather than an answer. The women were encouraged
to ask questions about the meaning of the problem, to
clarify any puzzling terms, and to share the mental im
ages that the problem brought to mind. I believe that
this "experiencing" step was important since it allowed
each woman to make the problem meaningful for herself
and to clarify i t for herself both visually and verbally.
Only when every group member "saw" the problem did
resolution become the focus. This approach encourages
refective and personal thinking; it provides the time to
make connections, to make meaning for oneself, and put
aside the ideas that may distort the problem or inhibit a
solution.
22
FUg uD Nah
More and more in recent years mathematics educators are recog
nizing the value of writing to do mathematics. They encourage
students to keep individual journals in which they can reflect
upon their feelings about the subject-a chance to get back at
the hated third-grade teacher!-and record their thought pro
cesses as they attempt to solve problems. As they look back at
the earlier pages, students realize how much they have pro
gressed, rather than focusing on and getting nervous about the
material yet to be learned.
If you are learning math on your own, or are enrolled in a
class in which journals are not expected, you can still incorpo
rate writing into your study procedure. One way is to divide the
paper in half vertically, using one column for doing mathematics
and the other for writing reflections about your thought pro
cesses and the feelings that are aroused as you try to reach a
solution. Some instructors suggest three categories: solution pro
cedure, thought processes, and feelings.
Early in her courses Buerk asks her students to write a state
ment that begins: "For me mathematics is most like . . . " Here
are some of their thoughts:
For me mathematics is most like the military draft: the
amount of interest I have for math is comparable to how
much soldiers like the thought of dying.
1 8 8
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
j, ,--4W 01
i$1, a
n f.
For me mathematics is most like a closed door: all the
information is there, only I don't have the key.
For me mathematics is most like quicksand: I fnd my
self drowning in a mass of equations and variables, fnd
ing that the more I struggle, the more I drown."
These people reveal how powerless they feel in the intimidating
presence of mathematics.
Rutgers University professor Arthur Powell works with se
verely mathephobic students, victims of racial, gender, and class
1 8 9
E VE R Y B OD Y CAN D O MATH
oppressions and of inferior inner-city schooling. Many of these
students need remediation at the level of arithmetic and elemen
tary algebra. Journal writing forms an integral part of his teach
ing methodology. He collects the student journals weekly and
writes nonjudgmental comments about the entries to encourage
further exploration.
As a frst year "Developmental Mathematics" student, Jose
collaborated with Powell in a study of writing. He also wrote a
math autobiography for me. He had entered college with an
inadequate background in mathematics. Junior high school
math assignments had been to do "ffty problems, all of the same
type. " Although he had gone as far as trigonometry in high
school, he "felt stupid" and "left high school feeling very frus
trated with my knowledge of math." His experiences in the "in
teresting and challenging" Developmental Mathematics classes
changed his feelings both about mathematics and his ability to
learn the subject. After passing with high grades, "I now feel
comfortable enough to take just about any course and feel that I
can do well in it. "
tacUg thc LUKUuWU
Changing the way you think about math, how you do math, and
what you expect of math can be a threatening experience. That
fact was brought home to me many times in the course of my
teaching.
One year I decided to start all my classes with a unit on
fnding patterns, a basic aspect of doing mathematics. Some
students reacted with enthusiasm, while others were completely
bewildered. "How do we do it? You didn't give us the formul a! "
A week later one of the students brought me a "drop" form to
sign. When I asked why he was dropping the course, he replied,
"I don't need more math. Besides, you're just playing games! "
His conception of mathematics was so skewed that he consid
ered thinking to be "just a game," just idle recreation.
My experience in teaching probability to nonacademic ele
venth-grade students was similar. They were so confused by the
degree of uncertainty inherent in the subject that I had to post
pone the topic until the following year. In contrast, a frst-grade
teacher in my course for practicing teachers decided to teach her
inner-city class to toss pennies and predict the outcomes. To her
surprise, the kids already knew all about pitching pennies and
1 9 0
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
_~z+ Yc.
n \' '
were completely absorbed in the lesson. They had not yet been
exposed to dreary, dull, deadening school math with only one
right procedure and one right answer for each exercise.
Mathematics is a language, with its own terms and symbols.
Like a foreign language, learning math requires time and prac
tice. Like a foreign language, the more you use it, the more
skilled you become in the use of it. The ability to do math well is
not a "God-given" talent, but one that requires years to develop.
Some fortunate people get an early start. For those not so fortu
nate, persistence will bring results. Everyone can experience the
thrill of the "Aha! " moment, when everything comes together in
a flash of sudden understanding.
Mary Ann (age 40) wrote about her current success in col
lege, after only one semester of high school math and a hiatus of
many years: ''I've been at a community college for a couple of
years, and started math from the very basic review up to where
I'm at now with calculus. I enjoy math even though it' s very
diffcult and frustrating at times . . . I think making myself do
whatever it is I fear will eventually generate success. When we
1 9 1
E VE R Y B OD Y C AN D O MATH
do things we fear sometimes our fears loom much larger than
the actual experience. For myself, meeting my fear head on
helps me to fnally believe I can change i t. "
In the conclusion of their very readable book, Where Do I Put
the Decimal Point?, Ruedy and Nirenberg express the hope that
apprehension "has given way to a new assertiveness . . . . Along
with the assertiveness comes a helpful irreverence toward those
numbers that are used to manipulate us; inflated or skewed
statistics as they are used in politics and advertising; the various
numbers that people use to label us, such as grades, IQ, and
medical risk factors.""
I have the same hope for the readers of this book!
1 9 2
CHAPTER EI GHT

Families, the First

Teachers
I began developing an understanding of mathematics when my
daughter entered frst grade and expressed a dislike for math
because of problems she was having in the face of timed tests
around adding and subtracting sheets of computations.
Helping our child develop mathematical understanding has
meant an opportunity for both my husband and me to learn
truly learn-what we had done rotely without understanding in
the past. We have both told our daughter that working with her
to learn about fractions has given us a second chance to learn
them ourselves. We could see from the look on her face that this
simple statement impacted on her in a meaningful way.
I volunteered to become prepared as a class leader in the
FAMILY MATH Program when Kara was in the frst grade.
Despite not understanding or knowing, I went ahead and pro
vided series of classes to the families in my daughter's school
and, eventually, to the families in her district.
Facilitating classes has meant my having the opportunity to
lear many ways of thinking, of approaching problems, from
all these families who came to the classes. This includes the
children as well as the adults. Each encounter has meant a
deepening of my understanding.
-Mary Jo Cittadino, Mathematics Instructor,
EQUA, University ofCalifomia at Berkeley
"Infants Have Math Ability at 5 Months, Study Shows," pro
claimed a newspaper headline. According to the article, "chil
dren as young as fve months can perform rudimentary addition
and subtraction, indicating that humans are born with an inher
ent mathematical ability that is functioning well before they are
taught arithmetic.'"
As I read this article, I couldn't help contrasting this revela
tion with my children's school experiences several decades ago.
In frst grade they were taught number combinations up to a
sum of ten-or was it fve? Parents were told not to teach their
1 9 3
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I RS T T E AC H E R S
children to read before they entered school, for fear that they
would be bored with the school curriculum. We were not warned
not to teach them ari thmetic; that subject was not considered
important. Somehow my sons did learn to read earlier than the
school authorities permitted them to acquire that skill. As a
result, one son was punished by being deprived of his reader for
the rest of the year because he had almost fnished the book
while the class was supposed to be on page 10. I managed to
have him transferred to another class, but it turned out to be not
much better.
Today we know a great deal more about how children learn.
I'd like to believe that the authoritarian teachers of several de
cades ago have since retired and been replaced by people well
versed in the psychology of learning, but I know that is a utopian
dream. Ultimately, it is the parent, the family, or the caretaker,
working with the school, who must take responsibility for their
children's learning.
Success Stors
When I look back at the early experiences that influenced my
choice of career, I appreciate the importance of informal mathe
matics in my childhood. I still recall the excitement of being
allowed, as a preschooler, to join my older brother and cousins
in card games like "Steal the Bundle." Not only did I reinforce
my skill in counting and reading numbers, but I learned to make
number combinations so that I could more easily "steal" another
player's stack of cards.
By the time I entered fourth grade I had amassed years of
experience as a salesperson and cashier. Until I was four years
old my parents operated a small stationery store. I was allowed
to sell candy, three-for-a-cent and four-for-a-cent, to the local
youngsters. Watching my father keep accounts in a notebook
fascinated me, and I, too, had to have my own notebook in which
I wrote columns of fgures. Before long I could write all the
numerals from one to 100.
When I was seven my parents opened a clothing store. We all
worked there-Mom, Dad, and I. Besides measuring yards of
ribbon and determining the correct stocking size by wrapping
the stocking foot around the child's fist, I was entrusted with the
operation of the cash register. Dad taught me to "count on." To
1 9 4
F AMI L I E S . T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
Steal the Budle
Here are the rules. as I recall them, for the card game we
called "Steal the Bundle." There is nothing hard and fast
about these rules. In fact, I will suggest alternatives. You
may want to make up your own rules . . or ask your child
to suggest variations.
Materials: One standard deck of 52 cards. You may want
to start young children with fewer cards-for example,
four cards each of One (Ace) to Seven.
Players: Two or more.
To Start: Deal four cards to each player, one at a time,
face down. On each round place one card on the table,
face up. for a total of four.
Rules of Play:
Easy: Each player in turn tries to match a card in her
hand with a card on the table. Assume she has a 7 in
her hand. and she sees a 7 on the table. She makes a
pair of7's and places them. face up, in front of her. This
stack of cards is her "bundle." and she will build it up
as she plays. If more than one 7 lies on the table, she
(Continued)
1 9 5
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
Steal the Bundle (cont|nued)
may pick up all the 7's with the 7 in her hand. Alterna
tively, assume a 2 and a 5 lie on the table. She may pick
up the 2 and the 5 with her 7, placing 7 on the top of
her bundle. She may also pick up any 7's on the table
at the same time. If she can't pick up any cards from
the table, she lays one card face up on the table.
Advanced: Besides playing according to the rules
above, a player may build. For example, the player has
a 2 and a 7 in her hand, and a 5 lies on the table. She
may place the 2 on the 5, saying am building a 7. " No
player may pick up this 2 or this 5 alone. On the next
round she picks up the 2 and the 5 with her 7, placing
the 7 on top of her bundle.
Stealing the Bundle: Besides fol lowing the rules above, a
player may capture another player's bundle by match
ing the top card in the bundle with a card in his or her
hand. The player places the captured cards on top of
his or her bundle.
Continue the Game: On each round a player removes ex
actly one card from his or her hand, by either match
ing i t with other cards or laying it on the table.
After the frst hand, deal cards only to the players,
not to the table.
Winning: The winner is the player who has the largest
bundle after all the cards have been played.
give change for a dollar in payment of a ffty-nine-cent item,
said aloud: "59, 60, 65, 75, one dollar," as [ handed the coins to
the customer. So when my fourth-grade teacher gave me two
dollars and told me to "ask your father to choose a box of hand
kerchiefs, and be sure not to lose the change," announced
proudly that [ could carry out the whole transaction myself.
What better way to acquire mathematical self-confdence!
Not only did my parents trust me to handle merchandise and
money, but also was praised by the customers, who, as [ look
back, did not seem reluctant to be served by a child in elemen-
1 9 6
F AMI L I E S . T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
tary school. I even picked up some Ukrainian and German words
in the process.
Although I was very comfortable with numbers and linear
measurements. I had less aptitude for three-dimensional tasks.
It might have been different if I had spoken up. When I was six.
my mother gathered the stuff to be thrown away prior to our
move to a new home. In the pile was a bag of long-forgotten
alphabet blocks. I sat down in the midst of the rubbish and
proceeded to build towers and other fanciful structures. But it
never occurred to me to ask Mom to save this treasure.
Few people have been blessed with the kind of family en
couragement that eventually led Patricia Kenschaft (age about
50) to her present position as professor of mathematics at Mont
clair State College in New Jersey. When she was four and a half.
her father demonstrated with the dishes on the table that the
ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is always
the same number. called pi. By second grade her mother had
taught her the area of a triangle. the commutative property of
multiplication (for example. 3 x 4 is the same as 4 x 3). and an
algebra game. all such great fun! At the age of ten she expressed
a desire to learn algebra. Her mother guided her to the algebra
section of the encyclopedia. and she learned all of frst-year alge
bra from that source. Her self-confdence and ability to study on
her own enabled her. later in life, to earn a doctorate in pure
mathematics while her two children were small.'
Ed (age 30) started college just recently. In high school he
had struggled through elementary algebra-"I just could not
make head or tail out of anything. My frst year in college I
started right at the bottom at the basic math level and was very
surprised at how well I picked up on the concepts." Ed was
encouraged by his stepfather. an engineer. "He has inspired me
to the point that engineering is my main focus at this point in
my life. I believe I would have pursued this avenue eventually.
but it always helps to have someone to push you just a little
further. "
Joy (age 22) is an engineering major. She. too. has been moti
vated by her family. "My family is somewhat math oriented. My
father excelled in math as a youth. My two uncles also excelled in
math to the degree of obtaining their Bachelorof Science in differ
ent engineering disciplines." Joy believes that "a child's frst expe
rience with numbers should be a comfortable confrontation and
1 9 7
F A MI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
not confusing. 1 believe that it should start in the home as a child
and continue throughout elementary with the help of caring and
capable teachers. This will enable one to have a more comfort
able outlook on mathematics and may motivate one to pursue a
math-related area."
Dr. Kenschaft and 1 both enjoyed extraordinary childhood
opportunities to learn mathematics. Ed and Joy also gained in
spiration and motivation from their families. But all parents
and caregivers, no matter how slight their own math back
grounds, can encourage their children to enjoy mathematical
activities and to do well in school math.
Importance of Family InvolveMt
Parents, naturally, want their children to achieve at the highest
level. But many parents are up in the air when it comes to
helping their children to do well in math. Perhaps they them
selves are math fearers or math avoiders. They may think of
math as merely dull, dreary drill of memorized facts and rote
procedures, and feel incapable of presenting other kinds of math
activities. Or they may believe that it takes a born genius to
master a "hard" subject like math: "I couldn't do math, so 1 don't
expect Andy to be good at it, either."
Eartha (age 1 9) was having no end of trouble with college
algebra, following bad experiences wi th math in high school.
"No one in my family is good with math so they didn't get mad
if 1 got a bad grade. Didn't get much motivation [from my
family]." 1 assume that Eartha's family expressed their nega
tive feelings about math. Getting mad at her might not have
helped, but friendly encouragement probably would have made
a difference.
Family involvement in children's education is vital. Parents
are in the best position to foster children's vast potential for learn
ing, to inspire children's confdence in their ability to learn, and
to develop favorable attitudes from the earliest age. It may seem
far-fetched, but it is true that the way you treat your four-year-old
may affect that child's SAT scores twelve years later.
A survey of thousands of students in Montgomery County,
Maryland, indicated that one factor above all others motivated
students to pursue mathematics in high school. These students
"pointed to their parents as the primary force behind their inter-
1 9 8
F AMI L I E S . T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
est in mathematics." They spoke of the encouragement that their
parents provided, and the expectation that they would continue
in math and do well in the subject.3
Parental encouragement is particularly important for girls.
A survey commissioned by the American Association of Univer
sity Women found that girls' self-esteem drops dramatically as
they approach the adolescent years. White girls lost their self
assurance earlier than Hispanic girls, while black female high
school students were the most self-confdent. Boys fared much
better than girls in this respect. Is it any wonder that girls lose
their self-esteem in the face of the messages they receive from
school authorities, the curriculum, and the society at large tell
ing them that they are not worthy? Apparently black girls are
better able to withstand the negative impact of these messages
because of the strong support they get from their families.'
Reginald Clark's research with African-American families in
three inner-ci ty Chicago neighborhoods indicates that high
achieving children had parents who were involved in the chil
dren's home activities, studying and reading with them. Such
factors as social class and single-parenthood were far less impor
tant in explaining achievement. s
Parents can boost their children's self-esteem and enable
them to withstand the effects of teachers' low expectations. The
earlier you take on the responsibility, the better your children
will achieve in school. When children begin to fall behind, their
defciencies are magnified as they grow older, unless there is
prompt intervention.
Herbert P. Ginsburg, professor of psychology and education
at Teachers College (Columbia University), believes that "educa
tion is more than learning in the purely cognitive sense. Emo
tion is also part of the intellect." His studies show that the way a
child approaches school learning is influenced by parents and
affects the child's expectations in that area of learning. "Many
Asian parents today are unschooled . . . . While many of these
parents cannot help their children with academic material, they
have a respect for learning and expect their children to do well
in school. " It is less the actual teaching and more the attitude
and expectations of the teacher or parents that count.
6
American students make a poor showing in mathematics in
comparison with their Japanese counterparts. Often overlooked
is the attitude of their parents. The assumption in Japan is that
1 9 9
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
anyone who works at i t can learn math. And Japanese children
do work at it, sometimes to the point where, in the upper grades,
the strain endangers their health. In the United States, on the
other hand, the ability to do math is considered an inbor trait
that some people have and others don't.' As we have seen in
earlier chapters, there is little evidence for this assumption, and
Japanese children offer a good counterexample.
Some parents may feel that they are not qualifed to give
their children a good start in math. Nothing can be further from
the truth. Adults who have experienced diffculty in math are
likely to be sympathetic to the problems their children face. All
parents can give their children understanding and love, the frst
prerequisites for developing good attitudes. They can instill the
self-confdence that will inspire a child to say: "I can do it! "
Nor is i t necessary to fol low the school curriculum. One of
the best ways to involve children in math is to play games, all
sorts of games, from Ring Around a Rosie to chess, depending on
the child's age and interests. You don't need to know formal
mathematics to play. Other family members and friends can join
in, making it fun for all.
The home is the world's largest and best school system. Par
ents as teachers are not burdened with twenty or thirty stu
dents, nor are they regulated by school bells and administrative
duties. Home is the ideal setting for children to learn attitudes
and concepts, how to ask questions, how to seek and verify
knowledge. Learning how to fnd answers is a skill that will
serve for a lifetime.
Helping Peschols
Children are naturally curious about the world they live in. They
love to learn new words, to play with new ideas, to investigate
all sorts of situations. You as a parent can foster this vast poten
tial for learning.
Babies pick up a great deal of math. One of their frst words
is " more," followed closely by the negative "no more." They can
compare collections of objects, they know that one doll is bigger
than another, and that one truck is heavier than another. They
learn to recognize patterns, to repeat words in rhythm, and to
carry out a series of actions in correct sequence. These are all
mathematical ideas that parents can build upon.
2 0 0
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
Ordinary household tasks provide a setting for a variety of
mathematical experiences. Sorting the laundry, matching socks
by color, size, and pattern, setting the table, preparing food,
shopping, fxing things-all afford opportunities for doing math
while engaging in useful tasks. The job may take a little longer
at frst and there will be mishaps. But the outcomes in terms of
children's experience and sense of accomplishment are worth all
the time and effort.
We often think of counting as a child's frst mathematical
activity. There probably are more counting books than all other
children's math books put together. Learning to count is a com
plex activity, and memorizing the number sequence "one, two,
three, . . . " is only one step. In addition to knowing the words i n
the correct order, children must note each object once and only
once, and assign one counting word to each object. They must
recognize that the last counting word also tells how many ob
jects have been counted, and that the order in which they count
the objects can vary. Having children use their fngers and vari
ous materials as counting devices can be helpful. You should not
be surprised by the child's inconsistent answers. It can take
years for a child to learn all these concepts.'
Of all household activities, few can equal food preparation
as a medium for learning math. Children practice counting, mea
suring liquid and dry substances, weighing, sorting, dividing,
estimating, telling time, learning shapes, and recording.
Cooking is a useful skill for boys as well as for girls. And to
avoid gender stereotyping, girls should have opportunities to
play with trucks, build with large blocks, and conduct all sorts
of experiments. This goes for the nursery school as well as the
home.
Although you may not think of a hand-held calculator as a
suitable toy for a preschooler, your child will probably enjoy
pressing the keys to see what numbers will appear. Eventually,
perhaps with a few hints, she will fgure out combinations of
numbers and operations that make sense to her.
You might ask your child to estimate how long a piece of
string would just ft around her waist. Cut the string as she
suggests and let her test her estimate. Then ask her to do the
same with your waist. In fact, you might try it yourself! Repeat
the procedure with other parts of the body and other objects.
This activity of "Guessing the Length" enables children to
2 0 1
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
Kids' Stuf
Four kids want to share a bag of apples. There are seven
apples in the bag. How can they do it so that each kid
gets the same amount?
Ancient Egyptian solution: The ancient Egyptians would
have followed this procedure, as described in the
Ahmes papyrus, written about 1 650 B.C. by the scribe
Ahmes (or Ahmose). First give each kid one whole apple.
Then cut two of the remaining apples in half and give
each kid a half. Cut the last apple into four equal parts
and distribute them. Each child receives (1 + v2 + ,/.)
apples. Each child has three pieces of the same size and
shape. The ancient Egyptians worked with unit frac
tions, fractions having the numerator olle.
Modem kids' solution: Make applesauce and spoon out
equal amounts to each kid.
learn that it's okay to risk making a wrong guess, that they
themselves can check and correct their solutions to problems,
and that they can become better estimators with practice. They
learn that adults can also be off the mark in their estimates, that
adults are not always the fnal authority.
Children actively construct their own knowledge by relating
new information to what they already know. As they discuss
their observations, they are learning to put their thoughts into
words and to use mathematical language. Above all, they are
developing the skills of analysis and critical thinking. Your role
is not to instruct i n the old-fashioned lecture method, but to
encourage and respond to your child's efforts at learning.
If you can count in a foreign language, if you know songs and
games from your own culture, you have an additional advan
tage. You can pass along to your children a valuable heritage in
which they can take pride, and which they in turn can share
with others.
I frst encountered Carmen in the library of a local college.
What caught my attention was that she was showing her four-
202
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
"""
year-old daughter how to write answers in a frst-grade math
workbook so that she herself would be free to do her library
research. The workbook task involved writing numerals, a skill
that the child had not yet developed. 1 spoke up when 1 heard
Carmen correcting her daughter because she had written the
wrong numeral. although she knew the correct answer.
Carmen was doing the best she could. She told me that she
was afraid of math, a fear that developed when as a child in
Puerto Rico she lived in a "home" due to her mother's illness.
"Now. when 1 see math in my chemistry course, 1 get scared."
She spoke with pride about her daughter. "I don't want her to
have these fears, and I'm trying to give her a good start. She
learns so fast! 1 explained addition and subtraction, and she
picked up the concepts in two minutes. Two minutes! But 1
really don't know how to help her."
Tyrone (age 2 1 ), an engineering major, wrote about his early
introduction to math. "When 1 was about fve years old my
mother brought me a second-grade math workbook that was fun
to use. However, 1 worked about halfway through the book and
then got bored . . . 1 really never had a fear of math. That early
workbook solved that problem. My father was pretty good in
math, but it was my mother who i ntroduced me to that math
workbook, probably because 1 was giving her a hard time. 1 will
2 0 3
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
always thank her for it. So I feel the way to alleviate a math fear
is to deal with it at an early age."
Helping School-Age Chilren
Children enter school with a wealth of mathematics knowl
edge. It is unfortunate that school authorities and teachers
don't always recognize these achievements. They treat children
as though they are empty containers into which knowledge
must be poured bit by bit. Often the knowledge that children
bring with them is simply ignored because it doesn't ft into
the school curriculum. Although educational psychologists are
well aware of children's strengths, changing the curriculum
and some teachers' attitudes is a slow process.'
As children try to accommodate themselves to a rigid cur
riculum and the discipline that some teachers demand, they
begin to lose their creativity. Drilling for the upcoming standard
ized test is hardly a stimulating activity. The need to use the one
correct procedure to fnd the one correct answer has a stultify
ing effect on children's thinking processes.
This is where parents and caregivers come in. They can
stimulate their children by playing games, posing problems, tak
ing trips to museums and other places of interest. Reading and
interpreting a road map, for example, is a great mathematical
activity. It involves following a route, estimating, measuring and
comparing distances, reading and interpreting scales, and much
more. Map reading becomes meaningful when children can
trace the route of an actual trip and read the road signs on the
way. And don't leave out the girls. Research shows that girls are
less exposed than boys to such activities. Many adults, men as
well as women, drive cars, yet are unable to read road maps.
With stepped-up pressure on schools and teachers to improve
test scores comes more emphasis on doing paper-and-pencil
arithmetic before children are ready. Educators blame "highly
competitive parents who, as their children enter nursery school
or kindergarten, already worry about their future scores on the
Scholastic Aptitude Test and admission to college. They want
their children to be pushed academically. "lO Parents expect kin
dergartners to bring home stacks of papers to show that they have
really learned something. Yet, children in more flexible schools
achieve at least as well on standardized tests, and often better
204
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
.r 1 ( l tne f($t
VY Ve :o-J 3_
H 0^ T ,
g4 .
u
kry
deV
oI.o_
+e n4 oj "h"
mo
r
?
Do they realize that the pennies would add up to over $ 10 million each
month?
than the students in accountability-driven schools. Parents must
understand how children learn and must relax the pressure.
What about homework? How much help should a parent
give? Generally, help should be limited to encouragement and to
seeing to it that the homework is done. Some schools give no
homework in the early grades, and that may be just fne. If
homework consists of a half-hour of dull, dreary, deadly drill on
a single operation with numbers, it is time to raise objections
with the teacher and the school. Children should be experienc
ing a variety of mathematical activities. Schools that offer less
are depriving children of the opportunity to develop the neces
sary higher-order thinking skills.
Mai (age 26) , a college student, has fond memoriesofherfami
Iy's involvement i n her math education in Vietnam. "Sometimes,
if I have a problem that I can't fnd solution, I will discuss in my
family to solve this problem. This discussion is very noisy and
[they suggest] a lot of ways to fnd solution. My family think that
math is necessary in our life and it is also a fun game in free time."
For Mark (age 19), math was not much fun in the early
grades. To counter his lack of interest in the subject, "my mother
2 0 5
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
practically drilled me to learn math." Although, as an engineer
ing major, he regrets not having taken trigonometry in high
school, he adds: "Today I' m glad my mother drilled mathemat
ics in me because I would surely be lost without i t. . . . I would
like to say that mathematics will exist forever and we should
learn all about it as much as we possibly can so we will be able
to solve problems of tomorrow. "
Some children need more help than their hard-pressed teach
ers can offer in class. One topic that causes diffculty in the early
grades is place value, the key to understanding our system of
numeration. Place value depends upon grouping by tens, just as
ten pennies are equivalent to one dime, and ten dimes equal one
dollar. Experiences i n grouping and exchanging real pennies,
dimes, and dollars can lead to activities with written numbers.
Children should also practice with other types of groupings.
For example, how can nine coins be combined to make one dol
lar, using any of the following coins: pennies, nickels, dimes,
quarters, and half-dollars? This is the kind of problem that has
more than one correct answer; I found four. Children should
experiment with actual coins before writing down any solutions.
Questions like: "How many pennies can you use? Can you use
exactly four pennies to combine with other coins? Why or why
not?" will help them to analyze the problem and to make eff
cient choices. Putting their ideas into words encourages them to
think clearly. You can assist your child in planning the trials in
an orderly way and recording them in a table. Of course, chil
dren should write down all the trials, not just the successful
ones! It is not a disgrace to try out a course of action and then
fnd that it doesn't work. Trial and error is a legitimate method
of problem solving. This is a fun way to practice operations with
numbers and mental arithmetic. An i ntroductory problem might
be: "In how many ways can you combine pennies, nickels, and
dimes to make a quarter of a dollar?" Children can invent their
own problems, similar to these or different.
Half-
Pennies Nickels Dimes Quarters dollars Number Value
I 5 IO 25 SO of coins in cents
206
F AMI L I E S . T H E F I RS T T E AC H E R S
Writing Two-Digit Numbr
What You Need: Ten dimes. ten pennies. pencil, paper
How to Play: Tell your child, "We are going to write how
much money we have." Make a group of two dimes and
four pennies. "How many dimes? . . . How many pen
nies? . . . I will write 2 in this column, and 4 in that
column. This T stands for Ten; each dime is worth ten
cents. This 0 stands for One; each penny is worth one
cent.
Te n

One

2 4
" Now tell me how many cents I have here . . . . Twenty
four cents. This number is twenty-four." Point to the
written number. "It means two tens and four ones.
Twenty-four. "
Repeat with many other sums of dimes and pennies.
What Else Can You Do? Write a two-digit number. Ask
your child to gi ve you tha t much money in di mes and
pennies. Take turns.
(From Claudia Zaslavsky, Preparing Young Children for
Math: A Book of Games [New York: Schocken Books,
1986), 107.)
Parets, Watch Your Attitud
It is diffcult for parents to see their children make mistakes and
not jump in to correct them immediately. It's wise to exercise
2 0 7
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I RS T T E AC H E R S
restraint. Children who are watched as they work and who are
criticized for their errors may develop a fear of taking risks, of
exploring new possibilities. They may even begin to hate math.
A more fruitful course would be for parents to ask questions and
give hints that will lead children to discover their own errors.
Adults must respect children's ability to take responsibility for
their own learning.
Janet (age about 40), a nursing student, was enrolled in an
algebra class. Although she knew the material well enough to
help other students in the class, she received only 35 percent
correct on the frst test. When the instructor tried to determine
the reasons for her poor performance, Janet became so dis
traught that she barely knew the sum of two plus two. Finally
she blurted out: "My father has been dead for ten years, but he is
standing behind me criticizing everything 1 do."1 1
The early home experiences of Nita and Lola offer a direct
contrast. Both are successful women, about forty years of age at
the time they wrote their autobiographies. Both were studying
or working in math-related felds. Nita was studying for a mas
ter's degree in architecture. Lola directed the math/science tu
toring lab at an inner-city college.
Lola speaks fondly of her parents' attitude:
When 1 try to understand why 1 like math, it is obviously
because 1 never bought the school's defnition of what
the subject was all about. My home experiences with
math were always pleasant. 1 remember feeling deep
satisfaction at being able to master the times tables un
der my mother's guidance. 1 would go to my bedroom,
study a table, and then report to the kitchen, where she
was cooking, for a recitation. Errors were handled in a
relaxed manner, and suggested strategies for studying
were appropriate for my level. 1 never remember any
exasperation on her part, only patience (I guess 1 was a
lucky kid). My father had an equally positive attitude
towards math. Although he only fnished tenth grade, he
frequently told me about his pleasure with algebra. He
particularly liked working out the equations . . . . My ex
periences throughout high school were boring. But 1 con
tinued to do well, for how can you go wrong when all you
are asked to do is memorize the rules?
2 0 8
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
Lear frm Mistakes
A busy teacher might check the answers to the subtrac
tion exercises below and mark them wrong. All the an
swers are wrong, but for just one reason. They show a
common error based on failure to understand place
value and "regrouping"-also called "borrowing." In
each column the smaller digit was subtracted from the
larger digi t.
1 6
8
1 2
24
1 5
I I
230 7 3 2
1 3 - 35 9
2 23 4 2 7
One way to remedy the situation is to have your child
practice with concrete materials. Assemble a collection
of dimes and pennies. On a sheet of paper draw two
columns, headed Ten and One, as on page 207. Have your
child carry out a subtraction problem that requires re
grouping, frst with the coins and then on paper. Ex
changing a dime for ten pennies is like regrouping in a
pencil-and-paper exercise. Repeat with other numbers.
Pretend that you are making purchases at a store, to give
it a real context.
Once your child has caught on to subtraction of two
digit numbers, go on to three-digit numbers, using dol
lar bills, dimes, and pennies. On paper, head the three
columns Hundred, Ten, and One. Take turns making up
problems and solving them.
Nita holds her father responsible for some of her diffculties
with mathematics: "My father was very demanding and easily
exasperated by my poor performance in arithmetic. Algebra was
even worse. You can imagine how he carried on when I failed
2 0 9
F A MI L I E S , T H E F I R S T TE ACHE RS
algebra four times in high school! I couldn't learn it at all. It was
all memorization, and I can't memorize. I love geometry-it's
concrete, I can see it-but because I hadn't passed algebra I
wasn't allowed to take geometry until my senior year. My grade
was 87 percent in the course. Now I am fnally studying what I
like." A deeper analysis might reveal to what extent her father's
overcritical reactions influenced her ability to learn algebra.
Certainly he was not helpful. Eventually Nita did master the
algebra required for her degree in architecture, but at what
great cost!
FAILY MTH to th Rcu
FAMILY MATH is a wonderful new development in mathematics
education. FAMILY MATH means parents and their children do
ing mathematics together and having fun doing it. FAMILY
MATH is about helping people to like math and to succeed at it.
FAMILY MATH is the program that enabled Mary Jo Cittadino to
overcome her fear and avoidance of mathematics as she orga
nized classes for other parents and their children.
The object of the program is to create a friendly environment
where parents and other caregivers work together with children
on various activities designed to include and supplement the
school math curriculum. The activities involve doing, rather than
memorizing, and enable children to see how math and daily life
are intertwined. They might survey the group to fnd out each
person's favorite ice cream flavor, then make graphs to illustrate
their fndings. They talk about symmetry while making decora
tive designs. They analyze the strategies involved in the games
they play. They discuss puzzles requiring logical solutions. They
even create their own puzzles and games. While having fun in a
cooperative atmosphere, they deal with many mathematical
topics-arithmetic, geometry, measurement, probability, statis
tics, graphing, calculators and computers, and logical thinking.
The activities require only inexpensive, easily available ma
terials that the participants can take home for further practice.
A FAMILY MATH book is packed with suggested activities for
different age groups, from kindergarten through early high
school grades.
Who are the leaders? They might be classroom teachers, par-
2 1 0
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T TE AC H E R S
ents, senior citizens, church members-in short, anyone can be
come a leader. They may choose to attend training sessions, or
just use the FAMILY MATH curriculum guide as a basis for their
activities. The guide is available in Spanish and other languages,
as well as English. A seventeen-minute flm, WeAl Count in Fam
ily Math, is a further aid to participants. Classes may meet after
school or in the evening, i n various places throughout thecommu
nity at the convenience of the participants.
FAMILY MATH motivates kids to want to take more math in
school. They see that math can be both useful and fun. Women
and men who work in felds requiring math and science are
2 1 1
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
invited to speak about their jobs and to encourage children to
think about math-related careers.
As one parent remarked, "It's too late for some people to go
back; well, it's not too late for my children; that's why we have
to try. "1 2
Wt Ele Can Parents Do?
Parents can help their children learn about careers and their
requirements. Twenty years ago few people could foresee the
technological breakthroughs and social trends that have led to
whole new areas of employment. Who knows what the future
will bring? Young people should keep their options open by tak
ing as much mathematics as possible in school. Their test scores
will improve and they will be prepared for a wide variety of
college majors, leading to the careers of the future. See the "Re
sources" section for lists of organizations that can furnish such
information.
The media rarely feature mathematicians and scientists.
Rarer still on the news pages are mathematicians and scientists
who are female or members of "minority" groups. Young people
should learn that folks who look like them can be successful in
these professions.
Parents should get to know their children's teachers, observe
classes, volunteer to help, and become active in the parent
teacher organizations. Some teachers and schools discourage
parent participation, and that is a real problem! What are they
trying to hide? Parents can bring a different perspective, they
can tell about their own experiences, they can share their spe
cialized knowledge. Schools should provide workshops to in
form parents about the math curriculum and suggest how they
can work with their children. Of course, FAMILY MATH sessions
would be ideal.
Parents need to keep a watchful eye on the schools and the
kind of math that children are expected to learn. Is the math
curriculum designed to encourage high-level thinking and love
of mathematics, or do standardized tests dictate the curriculum
content? Are students tracked into low-level courses and drilled
in "basic skills"? Are the teachers qualifed to teach the curricu
lum? What kind of homework is required? Are students receiv-
2 1 2
F AMI L I E S . T H E F I R S T T E AC H E R S
National Council of Teacher of Mathematics
(NCTM) Policy Statement
As a professional organization and as individuals within
that organization. the Board of Directors sees the com
prehensive mathematics education of every child as its
most compelling goal.
By "every child" we mean specifically-
students who have been denied access in any way to
educational opportunities as well as those who have
not;
students who are African American, Hispanic, Ameri
can Indian. and other minorities as well as those
who are considered to be part of the majority;
students who are female as well as those who are
male; and
students who have not been successful in school and
in mathematics as well as those who have been
successful.
The Board of Directors commits the organization and
every group effort within the organization to this goal.
(NCTM News Buletin [November 1 990]: 3.)
The NCTM Policy Statement may be a useful tool in
persuading your child' s school or teacher to improve
the teaching of mathematics and in working with the
parent-teacher organization toward these goals.
ing adequate guidance as to courses. careers. and postsecondary
education? For meaningful change to occur. parents need to
work through their parents' associations and community group
coalitions to monitor achievement levels and school practices.
and to become involved in the political process.
Some of the new programs that I have described have a
specifc parent component. The directors of The Algebra Project
emphasize that parents must be involved if efforts to improve
2 1 3
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I RS T T E AC H E R S
SMART Girls
Operation SMART is a successful out-of-school program
to encourage girls in Science, Mathematics, and Rele
vant Technology (SMART). Established in 1 985 by Girls
Inc. (formerly Girls Clubs of America), the program of
fers hands-on experiences that involve girls in the sci
ences and stimulate them to continue their study of
science and math in school.
Evelyn Roman-Lazen, the Operation SMART coordi
nator, exemplifes in her own person the positive influ
ence of the program. Born in the United States, she
spent much of her childhood in Puerto Rico, returning
to the mainland in 1 988 at the age of twenty-two. Poor
teaching i n elementary and junior high school caused
her to hate math. She admits that she cannot remem
ber the multiplication tables. Although she chose busi
ness courses in high school, her older siblings advised
her to take algebra and geometry so that she might
enter college.
Much to her surprise, her major in marketing and eco
nomics at the University of Puerto Rico included many
required courses in mathematics-calculus, differential
equations, linear algebra, mathematical statistics, eco
nometrics. Later, in her job at a large hotel, she used her
mathematical knowledge to work out strategies for the
operation of the casino. She was not happy in this job
"fguring out how to empty people's pockets. " Besides,
she was a victim of sex discrimination in salary.
Her frst job in New York was as an administrator with
Girls Inc. Contact with Operation SMART inspired her
to continue her studies in math and to take courses to
ward a degree in electrical engineering. Now she trains
leaders and teachers to work with Operation SMART
and Family Science programs. Her passion for math and
science is unbounded, and her enthusiasm is an inspira
tion to others. (Personal communication with Evelyn
Roman-Lazen.)
2 1 4
F AMI L I E S , T H E F I R S T TE AC H E R S
the mathematics education of children are to succeed. "Teaching
algebra to parents empowers them not only to grasp mathemati
cal concepts that may have been unfamiliar to them and reduce
any associated mathematics anxiety but it also equips them to
be active partners in their children's mathematics education.""
Young people who have out-of-school math experiences be
come enthusiastic about the subject and achieve better in
school . These intervention programs are generally successful in
engaging even the most turned-off students. Such programs are
offered by universities, museums, schools, and various educa
tion and community organizations. They feature one or more of
the following:
Conferences on careers and colleges
Field trips to science museums, zoos, and industrial sites
Competitions and contests
Academic instruction after school, on Saturdays, in summer,
or in university courses
Internships in industry and universities
See earlier chapters and the Resources appendix for information
about such programs.
Parental involvement in these programs is encouraged and
even required. Xavier University, a historically black institu
tion in New Orleans, runs summer enrichment programs for
secondary-level students, as described in chapter 5. The day
before the program begins parents are expected to attend an
orientation session. They receive report cards frequently and
attend an awards assembly at the end of the program. All stu
dents receive certifcates and have the opportunity to demon
strate what they have learned."
The 1989 Report to the Nation, Everybody Counts, tells us:
"Children can succeed in mathematics. Many do so in other coun
tries and some do so in this country. The evidence from other
nations shows overwhelmingly that if more is expected in mathe
matics education, more will be achieved. Clear expectations of
success by parents, by schools, and by society can promote suc
cess by students.""
2 1 5
CHAPTER NI NE

Mathematics of the
People, b the Peopl, for
the Peopl
There is a sense that they are dealing with an issue that does
not feel very vivid, and that nothing that we say about it to
each other really matters since it's "just a theoretical discus
sion." . . . Questions of unfairness feel more like a geometric
problem than a matter of humanity or conscience.
-Jonathan KOlol, Savage Inequalities
In this excerpt' Kozol describes a discussion with students at a
well-funded school in a wealthy New York suburb. The students
are arguing that giving equal funding to schools in poor districts
would not improve education in those schools. They present one
argument after another to prove their points, just as though they
were going through a logical proof in a geometry class. Notice
how Kozol contrasts "a geometric problem" with "a matter of
humanity or conscience." He is not referring to the geometry of
the Palestinian woman fashioning a shirt without the aid of a
pattern. He doesn' t have in mind the geometry of an African
family building their own home. With his analogy to geometry
he wants to evoke the image of an attitude that is cold, abstract,
unrelated to human concerns. But he doesn't need to explain his
analogy. He can take for granted that his readers will know ex
actly what he means-that they, too, have experienced school
geometry as a subject devoid of humanity.
We have discussed some of the reasons that mathematics is
considered diffcult and unattainable for all but the elite, mainly
white middle- and upper-class males. One factor is the manner
in which mathematics is taught. The Brazilian educator Paulo
Freire talks about two opposing types of education: dominating
and dehumanizing, or liberating and humanistic. In the frst
2 1 6
MATHE MAT I CS OF T H E P E OP L E
type, the teacher as the authority pours knowledge into the stu
dents, the empty vessel. Freire calls this the "banking" method
of education. Information is "banked," or, as a student in Jean
Anyon's study commented, it is put in "cold storage" for use at
some future time. The experiences of the dominant culture are
the only ones worthy of recognition, while those of other people
are ignored or discredited. They are presumed to have no history
or culture.
In contrast, humanistic education starts with the experi
ences of the learner. Teacher and student have equal status i n
this system. Together they engage in problem-solving activities,
which they subject to critical analysis at every step. As the learn
ers become aware of the forces in society that shape their lives,
they begin to see that they themselves must become actively
involved in the democratic process.2
Real mathematics education should fulfll the conditions of
humanistic and liberating education. It should equip people
with the knowledge and tools that will enable them to examine
and criticize the economic, political, and social realities of their
lives. It should help them to understand and try to fnd solutions
to some of the hard questions that affect them, such as:
Why are the taxpayers and their children and grandchildren
stuck with paying a half trillion dollars for the savings-and
loan fasco?
Why does so little of the federal budget go to education,
health care, and housing, and so much to building weapons
and making the rich richer?
Why is the infant mortality rate in the United States twice as
high for black babies as for white babies?
How can we deal with long-term unemployment? With
homeless ness ?
How can we clean up our polluted environment and stop
further pollution?
How can we save the planet and its people?
Many people are critical of mathematics, science, and tech
nology as they are now practiced. They claim that an elite of
predominantly white upper-class males has set the priorities,
with little regard for the needs of human beings and the preser
vation of our planet. They deplore the fact that the most highly
2 1 7
MAT H E MAT I CS O F T H E P E OP L E
Dublespeak
To hide the true state of the economy, government off
cials and business executives are fnding new ways to use
the vocabulary of mathematics. When a company de
moted its employees, they called the process "negative
advancement." The increasing trade defcit is an example
of "negative growth. " A newspaper article tells of a bank
in the Sunbelt with a "negative net worth of $447.8 mil
lion. " Later in the article we read: "The savings and loan
industry's mounting troubles in Texas can be measured
by its total capital, which stood at negative $1 0. 1 billion
[due to] bad loans, an overbuilt real estate market, fraud
and mismanagement."*
Will the reader overlook the word "negative" and think
tha t there is no cause for concern? Wha t other reason
can there be for this "doublespeak"? Of course, since the
publication of that article in 1988, people have become
aware of the full scale of the savings and loan debacle
or as much of it as they are allowed to fnd out.
*Thomas C. Hayes, " $1 .2 Billion Saving Unit Loss Seen," New
York Times, 14 May 1988, 37.
trained minds are working with the most up-to-date equipment
to devise ever more destructive weapons systems, while billions
of people are living in poverty and deprivation. In the late 1980s
the United States invested more research money, both public
and private, in military development than in the development of
our resources for civilian purposes.3
James S. Jackson, University of Michigan psychology profes
sor, believes that opening the university to women and to racial
and ethnic minority group members can bring some badly
needed fresh perspectives to the scene. In an article entitled
"From Segregation to Diversity: Black Perceptions of Racial
Progress," he wrote: "Blacks, other minorities and women bring
different ways of representing and conceptualizing problems
and of addressing intellectual issues . . . . [Their] experience can
2 1 8
MATHE MAT I CS OF T H E P E OP L E
The Rich Get Still Richer
According to an article in Earthwatch (July/August 1992)
the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting
poorer, not only in the United States but also in the
world as a whole. In 1990 the income of the wealthiest
one-ffth of the world population was about sixty times
the income of the poorest ffth, compared with thirty
times in 1 960. If this trend continues, what will be left
for the next generation of poor people in the world?
have profound effects on the way in which problems are concep
tualized and how solutions are attempted. Just as we recognize
that artists view the world differently, bringing us unique in
sights, I believe it is also true that in the humanities, social and
physical sciences that different perspectives are needed.'"
I must agree with Professor Jackson when, for example, I
compare the present ( 1 992) administration's national budget
with the alternative budget proposed by the Congressional Black
Caucus or the legislation supported by women in Congress. The
African-American and female legislators, for the most part, sup
port a reduction in weapons spending and an increase in funds for
programs that will beneft society, rather than destroy it.
In an impassioned speech to an interational audience in
1 984, Australian mathematics educator Nancy Shelley con
demned the culture of militarism, while calling for more human
istic applications of mathematics: "This culture of militarism is
exercised, for the most part, by white men . . . . Today women,
and people from other cultural backgrounds, are excluded [from
decision-making) by the bogus construct of 'ability.' . . . Other
systems of mathematics are possible, which offer the possibility
of a different world. Women have the opportunity to develop a
mathematics which can provide the world with another way so
that the planet lives and people the world over are fed and
healthy."' This is clearly a call to women and people of color
and ethical white men-to take the initiative and change the
priorities of society to beneft people, not profts and war. Mathe
matics can play a crucial role in this conversion.
2 1 9
MAT H E MAT I C S OF T H E P E OP L E
Makng Sense of the Dollar
President Reagan stated in his television address on 22
November 1982: "In recent years, about one-quarter of
our budget has gone to defense, while the share for social
programs has nearly doubled."
One year later, Andrew Stein, president of the Borough
of Manhattan i n New York City, wrote in an OpEd in the
Ne York Times (20 November 1983): " Last year . . . de
fense expenditure soaked up 59 percent of the nation's
general revenues, while social programs accounted for
1 8 percent . "
Who was telling the truth? Perhaps both. It all de
pends upon how you look at the question.
Let's take a look at the federal budget for 1985. I have
worked extensively with the fgures for that year, and
they are not much differen t from those of 1 982-or of
1 992, for that matter.
The total administration request for budget author
ity-that's what the president asks Congress to spend
was $925 billion in 1 985. The frst pie chart shows how
Curr ent
Mi l i t ary

v
t
Trust
Fu nds
O+
'Ime r
o
1
(Continue)
220
MAT H E MAT I C S OF T H E P E OP L E
Making Sense of the Dllar (Continu)
this sum was split up. For every dollar requested, 29
was for current military, 35 for trust funds, and 36 for
other purposes.
But trust funds are mainly for social security and are
held in trust for people. Congress is not supposed to
spend this money in other ways. Before 1 969 these funds
were not included in the federal budget. Putting them
into the budget makes the military portion seem smaller.
Let's remove trust funds from the budget. The nex t pie
chart shows how the federal budget dollar is appor
tioned when we exclude trust funds: 44 for current mili
tary, 22 for interest payments, 23 for human resources,
and I I for other purposes.
Curr ent
Mi l i t ary
+
|0T
|carccr

+
L!ncr
l
Inter o5\
2 2
But there is more to the story. A large portion of the
interest the government pays out on the national debt is
due to borrowing for military purposes in the past. Veter
ans' benefts and services are also military. Now we have a
third breakdown, as shown in another pie chart. Overal l
(Continued)
2 2 1
MAT H E MAT I C S OF T H E P E OP L E
Making Sene of the Dollar (Continue)
luT
u> carces

military is now 60 out of the federal budget dollar,
while 20 goes to human resources and another 20 for
other purposes.
So who was right, President Reagan or Andrew Stein?
According to the official budget fgures for 1982, just
about 25 percent went to the category called "Current
Military. " President Reagan was right on that score
when he said: "About one-quarter of our budget has
gone to defense. " However, when we analyze the fgures
again after removing trust funds and including all mili
tary expenditures, we see that Stein was right when he
said: "Defense expenditures soaked up 59 percent of the
nation's general revenues, while social programs ac
counted for 1 8 percent. "
In the early 1980s Nancy Shelley gave up her full-time work
in mathematics education to devote herself to working, writing,
and taking action for peace. The 1991 war in the Persian Gulf
horrifed her, as it did many others, with its dehumanization of
222
MAT H E MAT I CS OF T H E P E OP L E
the people under attack and "humanization" of the attack weap
ons, as she commented in a 1992 speech entitled "Mathematics:
Beyond Good and Evil?":
While the Iraqi people faced the reality of being bom
barded, on TV screens throughout the world, viewers
were bombarded with a virtual reality display of the
" theatre" of war. Weapons took on human attributes:
"smart" weapons had "eyes," computers "brains" which
"made decisions, " and it was military targets and mis
siles which were "killed." Human beings acquired the
characteristics of objects: if they were military person
nel they "absorbed munitions"; if civilian, they were not
hurt, maimed or killed but recorded as part of "collat
eral damage.
In this speech Shelley reaffrmed "the possibility of a different
mathematics which grows out of a culture which has no preten
sions to dominance; which can yet engage a learner creatively;
which affrms humanness; and which attends human needs and
will embrace earthy things. A culture of relationship, of care, of
communion. The process by which it will grow is known, the
shape it will take remains to be made.'"
Many scientists and mathematicians do feel responsible for
the ultimate uses of their work, as exemplifed by the signif
cant protest against the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)
in the 1980s, when thousands of scientists and mathematicians,
among them Nobel Prize winners-and they are mainly whi te
males-registered their opposition to this trillion-dollar pro
gram of destruction and vowed not to participate in it.'
The priorities of our policymaking bodies can and must be
changed, if we are to survive. People have the power to make
these changes. Just as slavery was abolished in the United States
after years of struggle, so science, mathematics, and technology
must be turned around to fulfll their potential of serving all of
humanity.
I worry, and I am angry, thinking about the future of our
children and grandchildren. I am sure that you share that con
cer. If this book has given you insights on what to do about the
things that matter, then I will feel it is a success.
223

Resources
Interention Pogam
Intervention programs-math programs that take place outside of the
regular schol setting-are generally successful with female and minor
ity students, even with those who do poorly with the school mathemat
ics curriculum. What factors account for the difference?
Intervention programs include several features that are often missing
from schol math, among them:
Well-trained teachers with high expectations for all students
Cooperative-group work on relevant projects that motivate stu
dents to learn the math they need to solve problems as they arise
Parental involvement
Career information and role models
Encouragement to continue the study of mathematics
The logical conclusion is that school programs should encompass
all these features. This would entail greater funding, better teacher
education, school restructuring, different forms of evaluation, and a
revised attitude toward mathematics and mathematics education on
the part of all sectors of the population.
Precollege Programs
It would be impossible to list all, or even many, of the current pre
college intervention programs. Many programs are sponsored and/or
funded by the organizations and government agencies listed in the next
section. Four useful guides are the following:
Clewell, B. L. , Bernice 1 Anderson, and Margaret E. Thorpe. Breaking
the Barriers: Helping Female and Minority Students Succeed in Mathe
matics and Science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 1992.
Clewell, Beatriz C., Margaret E. Thorpe, and Bernice T. Anderson. Inter
vention Programs in Math, Science, and Computer Science for Minority
and Female Students in Grades Four through Eight. Princeton, N.J.:
Educational Testing Service, 1987.
Kenschaft, Patricia C. , and Sandra Z. Keith, eds. Winning Women
into Mathematics. Washington, D. C. : Mathematical Association of
225
R E S OU RC E S
America, 1 99 1 . Includes brief descriptions and addresses of typical
programs at various grade levels.
Educating Tomorrow's Engineers: A Guide to Precolege Minority Engi
neering Programs. New York: National Action Council for Minorities
in Engineering (updated frequently), Directory of over one hundred
educational initiatives, organized by states, designed to build the
pol of African-American, Hispanic, and American Indian students to
enter technical felds.
Several programs have a national scope, among them:
Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science career conferences
for girls and young women. (See Math/Science Network)
Family Math, described in chapter 8. (See EQUALS)
Girl Scouts of the USA encourages math-related activities.
Operation SMART (Science, Math, and Relevant Technology) and
SMART Eureka aim to encourage girls of all ages to continue in
math and science. Local clubs develop participatory programs that
enable girls to carry out interesting projects and explore career
possibilities. (See Girls, Inc.)
Parent Teacher Associations distribute mathematics kits contain
ing ideas and materials for parent/child activities.
Saturday academies, after-school programs, and summer pro
grams. Contact local schools and colleges.
College Programs
Programs with a national scope include the following:
Comprehensive Regional Centers for Minorities. Funded by the Na
tional Science Foundation (NSF), to promote science education for
students from elementary school through college, train science
teachers, and foster community involvement. Contact NSF, Under
graduate Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Education, AC
CESS programs.
Math Without Fear, Math Anxiety, Mind Over Math. These clinics
hold sessions for adults to help them become comfortable with
mathematics. Some programs concentrate on the psychological as
pects, some on math tutoring, while others combine both aspects.
Contact local colleges.
Minority Engineering Programs on many college campuses. Con
tact NACME.
Professional Development Program, described in chapter 7. (See
Dana Center for Mathematics and Science Education.)
Summer bridge programs for entering students. Contact loal col
leges.
2 2 6
R E S OU RC E S
Oganizations and Goverment Agencies
The following organizations fund and/or sponsor programs designed to
foster interest and success in mathematics and math-related careers
among women and minorities. Contact them for information about
their publications and resources.
Academies of Science (loal and state) sponsor programs.
Algebra Project (see chapter 6), 22 Wheatland Avenue, Boston, MA
02124; (617)287-1508.
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Director
ate for Education and Human Resources, 1333 H Street, NW, Wash
ington, D.C. 2005-4792; (202)326-6670. Major objective: "To affect
the quality of science, mathematics, and technology education in
formal and informal education . . . for all people." Initiates projects,
organizes conferences, and publishes reports, books, and newsletters
directed to various segments of the population, including parents,
with the goal of promoting the equitable representation of all people
in mathematics and science.
American College Testing program (ACT), P.O. Box 168, Iowa City, IA
52243. Information on college entrance and other tests.
American Indian Science and Engineering Soiety, 1085 Fourteenth
Street, Suite 1 506, Boulder, CO 80302; (303)492-8658. Encourages
participation of American Indians in technical felds, starting with
early secondary grades.
Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM), 41 1 4 Computer and
Space Sciences Bldg., University of Maryland, College Park, MD
20742-2461 ; (301)405-7892. Supports women mathematicians, pub
lishes newsletter and a variety of resource lists. Speakers' bureau
serves high schools and colleges.
College Board, 45 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 1 0023-6992; (212)
71 3-8000. Information about the Scholastic Aptitude Tests and other
tests; intervention projects and inspirational materials; EQUITY
2000 project aimed at preparing minority students for college by
taking academic high school mathematics courses.
Consortium for Educational Equity, Rutgers University, 4090 Livingston
Campus, New Brunswick, NJ 08903; (201 )932-2071 . Gender Equity
Unit of the Equity Assistance Center for Region B (see Desegregation
Assistance Centers, below). Excellent resources: lists of materials and
boks, lending library, conferences and programs.
Dana Center for Mathematics and Science Education, 230B Stephens
Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. Sponsors the Pro
fessional Development Program described in chapter 7.
Desegregation Assistance Centers. Ten federal centers, each serving a
different geographic region, provide services in race, gender, and na
tional origin equity, conduct programs, and publish a variety of ma
terials. For addresses and further information, contact the Offce of
2 2 7
R E S OU RC E S
Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Education, 400
Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202-6330; (202)401 -0358.
Education departments of each state and city. Most maintain Offces of
Equal Opportunity.
Effcacy Institute, Jeffrey P. Howard, President, 99 Hayden Avenue, Lex
ington, MA 02 1 73; (61 7)862-4390. Works with schol systems and
organizations to "advance the intellectual development and aca
demic performance of all students, with a particular fous on the
development of African-American and Hispanic students." (See chap
ter 4.)
EQUALS, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of Califoria, Berkeley,
CA 94720, ( 51 0)642-1 823. Conducts programs at many sites around
the United States and elsewhere, for school personnel, students, and
parents, to promote the participation of female and minority stu
dents in mathematics and computer education. Publishes print and
audiovisual curriculum materials and career information, such as
Family Math and Math (or Girls and Other Problem Solvers.
Girl Scouts of the USA, 420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018;
(21 2)852-8000. Publishes resource materials and sponsors events to
encourage girls in math, science, and technology; conducts activities
leading to math badges.
Girls, Inc., 30 East 33rd Street, New York, NY 10016; (2 12)689-3700.
(See Operation SMART, under Precollege Programs.)
Higher Education for Working Adults, College and University Depart
ment, 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001 ; (202)879-
4422. (See chapter 5 for a discussion of colleges for working adults.)
International Study Group on Ethnomathematics. Studies the influ
ence of sociocultural factors on the teaching and learning of mathe
matics; publishes newsletter. Contact the president, Dr. Gloria Gil
mer, Math-Tech, Inc., 91 55 North 70th Street, Milwaukee, WI 53223;
(41 4)355-5 1 91 .
Math/Science Network, Preservation Park, 678 Thirteenth Street, Suite
100, Oakland, CA 9461 2; ( 51 0)893-MATH. Provides support and re
sources for programs to serve female students of all ages, parents,
and educators, women reentering the academic world, and profes
sional scientists; publishes newsletter; sponsors "Expanding Your
Horizons in Math and Science" career conferences in many parts of
the country.
Mathematical Association of America (MAA), 1 529 Eighteenth Street,
N.W., Washington, DC 20036; (202)387-5200. Maintains committees to
improve the participation of women and underrepresented minority
groups; supports "Women and Mathematics" (WAM) visiting lecture
program and SUMMA (Strengthening Underrepresented Minority
Mathematics Achievement), a many-faceted program; publishes Win
ning Women into Mathematics, the SUMMA Resource Directoro{lnter
vention Projects, and other relevant literature.
2 2 8
R E S OU R C E S
Mathematical Sciences Education Board, National Research Council,
21 01 Constitution Avenue, Washington, DC 2041 8; (202)334-3294. As
sumes a national leadership role in the reform of mathematics edu
cation; publications include the very readable Everbody Counts: A
Report to the Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education ( 1 989)
(order from National Academy Press at the above address).
National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME), 3
West 35th Street, New York, NY 1 0001-228 1 ; (21 2)279-2626. Dedi
cated to bringing the talents of African Americans, Hispanics, and
American Indians to the nation's engineering workforce. Conducts
research, provides scholarships and grants, develops and operates
model intervention programs. and publishes original educational ma
terials for educators and for students of all ages.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), 1906 Associa
tion Drive, Reston, VA 22091 ; (703)620-9840. Publishes materials
relating to precollege mathematics education-boks, audiovisual
materials, journals for several levels of mathematics education, and
a research journal . The NCTM was the frst professional organiza
tion to establish national standards for precollege education, with
the publication of Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School
Mathematics ( 1 989), described in chapter 6.
National Science Foundation (NSF), 1 800 G Street, NW, Washington.
DC 20550. Federally funded foundation initiates and supports re
search and education programs in science, mathematics, and technol
ogy at all levels. For general information, request Grants for Research
and Education in Science and Engineering from the Forms Publica
tions Unit at the above address.
QEM (Quality Education for Minorities) Network, 1 81 8 N Street, NW,
Suite 350, Washington, DC 20036; (202)659-1 81 8. Dedicated to im
proving education for minorities throughout the nation; focus on en
couraging the greater participation of minorities in mathematics,
science, and technology at all levels; information about exemplary
programs. Send for comprehensive national plan: Together We Can
Make It Work: A National Agenda to Provide Quality Education for
Minorities in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering ( 1 992).
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, 670 Monterey Pass Road,
Monterey Park, CA 91 756. Works to improve the quality of education
and training programs for Hispanic students entering engineering
and science felds.
United States Department of Education, Washington, DC 20202. Funds
programs on all educational levels. Send for Guide to Department of
Education Programs.
Women in Mathematics Education (WME), c/o SummerMath, 302
Shattuck Hall, Mt. Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA 01 075; (413)
538-2608. Promotes mathematical education of women and girls;
publishes newsletter and bibliography.
229
R E S OU RC E S
Women's Action Alliance, 370 Lexington Avenue, Suite 603, New York,
NY 10017; (21 2)532-8330. Sponsors the Computer Equity Expert Proj
ect, to increase girls' involvement with computers, math, and sci
ence; holds conferences and publishes literature for educators and
parents on girls and computers.
Women's Educational Equity Act (WEEA) Publishing Center, Education
Development Center, 55 Chapel Street, Suite 271 , Newton, MA 02160;
(800)225-3088. Promotes educational equity for women by publishing
a variety of curriculum, career guidance, and teachers education ma
terials for all age levels, including Math, Science, and Your Daughter
and three other pamphlets in the series, Encouraging Girls in Math
and Science, by Patricia B. Campbell.
Ditributors of Matlremtics Books and Mate
Request catalogs, specifying your interest.
Activity Resources Company, P.O. Box 4875, Hayward, CA 94549;
(5 0)782- 1 300.
Creative Publications (Order Department), 5040 West th Street, Oak
Lawn, IL 60453; (800)624-0822.
Cuisenaire Company of America, P.O. Box 5026, White Plains. NY
1 0602-5026; (800)237-3142.
Dale Seymour Publications, P.O. Box 10888, Palo Alto, CA 94303-0878;
(800)872- 1 1 00.
EXA Company, 6928 East Sunnyvale Road, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253;
(602)948-6795. Distributor of Algebra Blox, a concrete approach to
learning algebra, suitable for all ages (see chapter 7).
J. Weston Walch, 321 Valley Street, P.O. Box 658, Portland, ME 04104-
0658; (800)341 -6094.
Selct Bibliography
The publications listed below comprise just a small fraction of the
available offerings in each category. For the most part, I have chosen
recent publications. You can fnd additional titles in the reference
notes.
Equity Issues and Overoming Fear of Math
Afflack, Ruth. Beyond Equals: To Encourage the Participation of Women
in Mathematics. Math/Science Network, 1982. (Order from EQUALS.)
Designed for use by instructors of adult women, the materials stress
problem solving, concrete representations, logical reasoning, and spa
tial experiences.
Arem, Cynthia. Conquering Math Anxiety: A Self-Help Workbook. Pacifc
Grove, Calif.: Brooks/Cole, 1 992.
2 3 0
R E S OU R C E S
Brecher, Deborah. The Women's Computer Literacy Handbook. New
York: New American Library, 1986. Clear explanations of computer
operations, as well as aspects of computers that are of special interest
to women.
Chipman, Susan, LoreHe Brush, and Donna Wilson, eds. Women and
Mathematics: Balancing the Equation. Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erl
baum, 1985. Research into the many aspects of women's underrepre
sentation in mathematics courses and mathematics-related felds.
Clewell, Beatriz C., Bernice T. Anderson, and Margaret E. Thorpe. Break
ing the Barriers: Helping Female and Minority Students Succeed in
Mathematics and Science. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992. Identify
ing and breaking the barriers to achievement.
Frankenstein, Marilyn. Relearing Mathematics: A Different Third R
Radical Maths. London: Free Association Books, 1989. Societal fac
tors that induce math fear, and ways that adults can learn and enjoy
math as they deal with real-life problems.
Hilton, Peter, and Jean Pedersen. Fear No More: An Adult Approach to
Mathematics. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1983. The concepts
that underlie arithmetic.
Kenschaft, Patricia C., and Sandra Z. Keith, eds. Winning Women into
Mathematics. Washington, D.C.: Mathematical Association of Amer
ica, 1 991 . "Fifty-fve cultural reasons why too few women win at
mathematics," successful women mathematicians of various ethnicl
racial backgrounds, and much more.
Kogelman, Stanley, and Joseph Warren. Mind Over Math. New York:
Dial Press, 1 978. Exploration of the causes of math anxiety, and sug
gestions for overcoming the problem.
Langbort, Carol, and Virginia Thompson. Building Success in Math.
Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1985. Nontraditional approaches to
learing math for people of all ages who feel uncomfortable with the
subject.
Pearson, Willie, Jr., and H. Kenneth Bechtel, eds. Blacks, Science, and
American Education. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press,
1989. Analysis of the past, present, and future of African Americans in
mathematics and science, and strategies to insure full participation.
Ruedy, Elisabeth, and Sue Nirenberg. Where Do I Put the Decimal Point?
New York: Henry Holt, 1 990. User-friendly book designed to build the
confdence of math fearers through psychological and mathematical
methods.
Tobias, Sheila. Overcoming Math Anxiety. New York: Norton, 1978. Ad
dressed mainly to middle-class white women, this book has become a
classic.
. Succeed with Math: Ever Student's Guide to Conquering Math
Anxiety. New York: College Board Publication, 1987. Aimed at stu
dents entering college; case studies of contemporary applications of
mathematics.
2 3 1
R E S OU R C E S
Biogrphy
Bedini, Silvio A. The Life of Benjamin Banneker. New York: Scribner,
1972. Life of the eighteenthcentury African-American mathemati
cian and astronomer.
Comer, James P. Maggie's American Dream. New York: New American
Library, 1988. Inspirational story of an uneducated and unlettered
African-American woman's ferce determination to educate her four
children; they earned thirteen college degrees among them. Told in
her own words and in those of her son, a child psychiatrist and associ
ate dean of Yale Medical School.
Grinstein, Louise, and Paul J. Campbell, eds. Women of Mathematics: A
Biographical Sourcebook. New York: Greenwood Press, 1987. Biogra
phies of forty-three women, from ancient times to the present.
Kenschaft, Patricia C. " Black Women in Mathematics in the United
States." American Mathematical Monthly 88 ( 1 981 ): 592-604. Re
printed with additions inJoural of African Civilization 4, I ( 1982): 63-
83. Brief biographies of women who have earned doctorates in pure
mathematics.
. " Black Men and Women in Mathematics Research." Joural of
Black Studies 1 8, 2 ( 1 987): 170-1 90. Historical and contemporary.
Koblitz, Ann Hibner. A Convergence of Lives. Sofa Kovalevskaia: Scien
tist, Writer, Revolutionar. Boston: Birkhauser, 1983. Exciting biogra
phyof a nineteenth-century Russian woman, the frst female mathema
tician in recent times to receive a university appointment; her false
marriage, her involvement in revolutionary movements, her close
friendships.
Newell, Virginia K., et al. Black Mathematicians and Their Works. Ard
more, Pa.: Dorrance, 1 980. Brief biographies and bibliographies
of the works of sixty-two twentieth-century mathematicians and
mathematics educators, as well as eighteenth-century Benjamin
Banneker. Many are represented by works of original mathematical
research.
Osen, Lynn. Women in Mathematics. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press,
1974. Biographical sketches of prominent historical fgures.
Perl, Teri. Math Equals. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley, 1978. Easy
to-read biographies of ten prominent women mathematicians, and
activities for the reader to carry out.
. Women and Numbers. San Carlos, Calif.: Wide World Publishing!
Tetra, 1993. Biographies of women mathematicians of varied ethnic/
racial backgrounds, many of them contemporary; relevant activities;
appropriate for young people.
Sands, Aimee. "Never Meant to Survive: A Black Woman's Journey. "
Radical Teacher 30 ( 1 986): 8-1 5. Computer consultant Evelyn Ham
mond's encounters with racism and sexism, told in her own words.
Van Sertima, Ivan, ed. Blacks in Science: Ancient and Moder. New
Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Boks, 1 983. Two main themes: scien-
232
R E S OU RC E S
tifc and mathematical developments in ancient Africa and contem
porary African-American scientists.
Textbo ks and Study Materials
Also see titles under "Equity Issuesn earlier in this bibliography.
Crandall, JoAnn, et al. English Language Skills for Basic Algebra. Engle
wood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1987. Appropriate for students whose
frst language is not English.
Faistein, Lina. Basic Mathematics: You Can Count on Yourself Reading.
Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1986. User-friendly worktext covering arith
metic and elementary algebra, using real-life applications.
Hurwitz, Lucy, and Lou Ferlinger. Statistics for Social Change. Boston:
South End Press, 1988. Introduction to statistical techniques; their
use and misuse in explaining real-life events.
Jacobs, Harold R. Mathematics: A Human Endeavor. A Book for Those
Who Think They Don't Like the Subject. New York: Freeman, 1982.
Appealing introduction to mathematical ways of thinking, algebra,
number theory, statistics, and other topics; well illustrated.
Schwartz, Richard H. Mathematics and Global Survival: Scarcity, Hun
ger, Population Growth, Pollution, Waste. Needham Heights, Mass.:
Ginn, 1989. Computation, statistics, and graphing applied directly to
social issues.
Zaslavsky, Claudia. Multicultural Mathematics: Interdisciplinary Coop
erative Learing Activities. Portland, Maine: J. Weston Walch, 1993.
Historical, cultural, and present-day applications, requiring only a
knowledge of arithmetic.
General
Brown, Stephen I. , and Marion I. Walter. The Art of Problem Posing.
Hillside, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1983. Raises the question: "What
if not?"
Campbell, Douglas M., and John C. Higgins, eds. Mathematics: People,
Problems, Results. 3 vols. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth, 1 984. Anthol
ogy that gives the nonmathematician "some insight into the nature of
mathematics and those who create it."
Davis, Philip J., and Reuben Hersh. The Mathematical Experience. Bos
ton: Houghton Mifflin, 1 98 1 . Content, history, and philosophy of
mathematics, brief biographies, pedagogical issues; well illustrated.
Gardner, Martin. Author of many books of intriguing puzzles and
problems.
Kohl, Herbert. Mathematical Puzzlements: Play and Invention with
Mathematics. New York: Schocken, 1987. Over 250 games, puzzles,
paradoxes, and problems, ranging from simple to sophisticated.
Pappas, Theoni. The Joy of Mathematics. San Carlos, Calif.: Wide World
Publishing, 1989. Math in all spheres of life, delightful reading.
2 3 3
R E S OU RC E S
Paulos, John Allen. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and lis Conse
quences. New York: Hill and Wang. 1988. Humorous anecdotes point
to the social costs of innumeracy on both the personal and national
level.
Zaslavsky, Claudia. Africa Counts: Number and Patter in African Cul
ture. New York: Lawrence Hill Books, 1979. Numeration, numbers in
daily life, geometry in art and architecture, and mathematical games,
i llustrated by anecdotes and photographs.
Mainly for Parnts
Alper, Lynne, and Meg Homberg. Parents, Kids, and Computers. Sybex,
1984 (order from EQUALS; see " Distributors"). The best ways for
children to work with computers in schol and at home.
AAAS. Math Power in School, Math Power at Home, Math Power in the
Community. Washington, D.C.: AAAS, 1992 (see "Organizations").
Tools to help all students achieve mathematical power.
Barrata-Lorton, Mary. Workjobs for Parents. Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison
Wesley, 1 975. Activity-centered learning in the home; lovely photo
graphs.
Burns, Marilyn. The I Hate Mathematics Book and several other boks
for primary and middle-grade students, published by Little, Brown.
Lively approach, clever illustrations.
Campbell, Patricia B. Encouraging Girls in Math and Science. Newton,
Mass.: WEEA Publishing Center, 1992. Four pamphlets, for educators,
parents, and community involvement.
Children's Television Workshop, One Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY
10023. Materials for parents in connection with "Square One" and
other math and science children's programs.
College Board publishes materials for parents.
EQUALS publishes many activity books addressed to girls, but suitable
for all students; career goals are included.
Golick, Margie. Deal Me In! The Use of Playing Cards in Learing and
Thinking. New York: Norton, 1973. Over a hundred games, diversions,
and tricks for children aged four and up, classifed by age level.
Grunfeld, Frederick V., ed. Games of the World. New York: Ballantine,
1975. Over a hundred games, with cultural background; beautiful
illustrations.
Kaye, Peggy. Games for Math: Playful Ways to Help Your Child Lear
Math. New York: Pantheon, 1987. Resource book for parents of chil
dren in grades kindergarten through three.
Papert, Seymour. Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas.
New York: Basic Books, 1980. Background and implications of com
puters in the lives of children; focus on Papert's computer language
LOGO.
Rasmussen, Lori. Miquon Lab Materials. Key Curriculum Press, P.O.
Box 2304, Berkeley, CA 94702. Use with manipulatives to help chil-
2 3 4
R E S OU RC ES
dren in grades one to three become creative and independent prob
lem solvers. Request catalog.
Sanders, 10 S., and Antonia Stone. The Neuter Computer: Computers for
Girls and Boys. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1 986. Computer activities,
equity strategies, and resources to interest girls and boys in comput
ers.
Skolnick, Joan, Carol Langbort, and Lucille Day. How IO Encourage
Girls in Math and Science: Strategies for Parents and Educators. Palo
Alto, Calif.: Dale Seymour Publications, 1982. For girls, preschool to
grade eight.
Sprung, Barbara, Merle Froschl, and Patricia B. Campbell. What Will
Happen If. . . Young Children and the Scientifc Method. New York:
Educational Equity Concepts. 1985. Science activities for elementary
schol chi ldren by educators who value equity.
Stenmark, Jean K., Virginia Thompson, and Ruth Cossey. Family Math.
Berkeley, Calif.: Lawrence Hall of Science, 1986 (order from EQUALS).
Available in Spanish. (See chapter 8 for description.)
Zaslavsky, Claudia. Preparing Young Children for Math: A Book of Games.
New York: Schocken, 1986. Over a hundred uhomemaden activities
for children aged two to eight, to encourage parents and teachers to
make up their own. Includes games from various cultures.
2 3 5


Notes
Chapter 1. Wo's Afaid of Math?
1 . Denise Grady, "Can Heart Disease Be Reversed?" Discover, March
1987. 55-68.
2. Russell Baker, "Observer: How to Miss Mozart," Ne York Times,
26 October 1 991 , 19.
3. "Drug May Help the Overanxious on S.A.T.'s," Ne York Times, 22
October 1987, A27.
4. Steve Post, WNYC, New York, 22 October 1987.
5. Marilyn Frankenstein, Relearing Mathematics (London: Free As-
sociation Books, 1989), 40.
6. Frankenstein, Relearing, 1 1 .
7. Judith Weller, personal communication.
8. Deborah H. Hallett, "Remarks for Remediation Panel," Proceed
ings of the Fourth Interational Congress on Mathematical Education
(Boston: Birkhauser, 1983), 656-657.
9. David Henderson, "Mathematics and Liberation," For the Lear
ing of Mathematics I , 3 (March 1 981 ): 1 2-1 3.
Chapter 2. Wo Needs Math? Everbody!
1 . Jeffrey Schmalz, "Cuomo Urges Business Leaders to Aid Minori ty
Youth Training," Ne York Times, 29 April 1987, BI .
2. Patricia C. Kenschaft, "Evelyn Boyd Granville ( 1 924- )," in Lou
ise S. Grinstein and Paul J. Campbell, eds., Women of Mathematics (New
York: Greenwood Press, 1987), 57-61 .
3. Debra K. Rubin, "Fifth Annual Salary Survey," Working Woman,
January 1984, 59; Robert Pear, "Study Says Affrmative Rule Expands
Hiring of Minorities," Ne York Times, 19 June 1983, A1 6.
4. Ne York Times, 21 September 1 990, AI .
5. Notice of Examination, Sanitation Worker Exam. No. 91 47, City
of New York.
6. "Employment in the Service Industry, Impetus to the 80's Bom,
Falters," Ne York Times, 2 January 1992, D4.
7. Doron P. Levin, "Smart Machines, Smart Workers," Ne York
Times, 1 7 October 1 988, Dl ; Michael Schrage, "Innovation: Statistics
Skills Would Help u.S. Compete," Los Angeles Times, 1 4 March 1 991 ,
DI .
2 3 7
NOT E S T O P AGE S 3 1 - 5 2
8 . "Computers at the School of Art," Michigan Today, December
1987, 10.
9. Phyllis Steinmann, "Prescription for Mathematics Anxiety: Some
Case Histories," Focus on Learing Problems in Mathematics S, nos. 3
4 (Summer/Fall 1983): 2 1 .
10. National Research Council, Everbody Counts: A Report to the
Nation on the Future of Mathematics Education (Washington, D.C.: Na
tional Academy Press, 1 989), 53.
I I . Steinmann, "Prescription for Mathematics Anxiety," 22.
1 2. National Research Council, Everbody Counts, 32-33.
1 3. National Science Foundation, Educating Americans for the 21 sl
Centur (Washington, D.C.: Author, 1983), 1 3-1 4.
14. National Science Foundation. Women and Minorities in Science
and Engineering (Washington, D.C.: Author, 1 990), vii-ix.
1 5. New York Times, 4 September 1987, AI .
1 6. National Science Foundation, Women and Minorities in Science
and Engineering (Washington, D.C.: Author, 1988), vii-viii.
1 7. American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science for
All Americans: A Project 2061 Report on Literacy Goals in Science, Mathe
matics, and Technology (Washington, D.C.: Author, 1 989), 156-157.
Chapter 3. Myths of Innate Inferiority
1 . Daniel Goleman, "Girls and Math: Is Biology Really Destiny?"
New York Times, 2 August 1987, EDUC 42-43.
2. C. P. Benbow and J. C. Stanley, "Sex Differences in Mathematical
Ability: Fact or Artifact?" Science 21 0 ( 1 2 December 1 980): 1264.
3. D. A. Williams and P. King, "Do Males Have a Math Gene?" News
week, 1 5 December 1980, 73.
4. "The Gender Factor in Math," Time, 15 December 1980, 57.
5. "Are Boys Better at Math?" New York Times, 7 December 1 980,
102.
6. Alice T. Schafer and Mary W. Gray, "Sex and Mathematics," Sci
ence 2 1 1 ( 1 6 January 1 981 ), Editorial; J. E. Jacobs and J. S. Eccles,
"Gender Differences in Math Ability: The Impact of Media Reports on
Parents," Educational Researcher 14, 3 ( 1 985): 20-24.
7. Goleman, "Girls and Math."
8. Lindsay A. Tartre, "Spatial Skills, Gender, and Mathematics," in
Mathematics and Gender, Elizabeth Fennema and Gilah C. Leder, eds.
(New York: Teachers College Press, 1 990), 27-59.
9. Roger Sperry, "Some Effects of Disconnecting the Cerebral Hemi
spheres," Science 21 7 ( 1 982): 1 224. See also Joe Alper, "Brain Asymme
tries: Sex Roles or Sex Differences?" Science for the People 1 7 (September
1985): 25-29.
10. "Complex Math for a Complex Brain," Science News 1 21 (23 Janu
ary 1982), 58.
2 3 8
NOT E S TO P AGE S 53 - 6 0
I I . Marcia S. Linn and Anne C. Petersen, "Facts and Assumptions
about the Nature of Sex Differences," in Handbook for Achieving Sex
Equity through Education, Susan S. Klein, ed. (Baltimore: Johns Hop
kins University Press, 1985), 53-77; Patricia B. Campbell, "Girls and
Math: Enough Is Known for Action: WEEA Digest (June 1991): 1-3.
12. My discussion of spatial ability relies heavily on Anne C. Petersen
and Kathryn E. Hood, "The Role of Experience in Cognitive Perfor
mance," in Women at Work: Socialization toward Inequality, G. M.
Vroman, D. Burnham, and S. G. Gordon, eds. (New York: Gordian Press,
1988), 52-57.
Sandra Blakeslee, in her New York Times article, "Female Sex Hor
mone Is Tied to Ability" ( 1 8 November 1988, AI ), states that the hor
mone estrogen may have an effect on the speed with which women can
mentally rotate objects drawn on paper. Dr. Doreen Kimura, at the
University of Wester Ontario, found that when estrogen levels were
low, as at the beginning of the menstrual cycle, women could solve
more problems within a given time span than when levels were high, in
the middle of the cycle. She warned that individuals vary widely, and
that one is not likely to encounter such problems in real life, where it's
mostly a matter of "fnding your car in a parking lot." A note in ZPG
Reporter (February 1992, page 8) concerns research at the same univer
sity indicating that men's spatial ability varies inversely with the level
of the sex hormone testosterone, which is generally higher in the fall
than in the spring. This could make as much as a 50-point difference in
the SAT math score, they say.
13. Joan Ferrini-Mundy, "Spatial Training for Calculus Students: Sex
Differences in Achievement and in Visualization Ability," Joural for
Research in Mathematics Education 1 8 ( 1 987): 1 26-140.
14. Janet Elder, "Students' Spatial Skills Decline: New York Times,
1 5 August 1985, CI .
1 5. Margaret Courtney-Clark, Ndebele: The Art of an African Tribe
(New York: Rizzoli International Publishers, 1986).
16. David Owen, None of the Above: Behind the Myth of Scholastic
Aptitude (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985).
1 7. Owen, None of the Above; "SAT Coaching: Reality vs. Cover-up, "
FairTest Examiner 5, 4 (Fall 1991): 1-3.
18. Campbell, "Girls and Math," 2.
19. Sonia Nieto, Afnning Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of M ul
ticultural Education (New York: Longman, 1 992), 148-149.
20. Aimee Majoros with Lester Salvador, "Not All Asians Are Math
and Science Geniuses," New Youth Connections, April/May 1989, 7.
21 . " IOO-Point Lag Found in Blacks' SAT. Scores," New York Times, S
October 1982, A21 . Between 1976 and 1992, scores for African Ameri
cans on the mathematics SAT rose 31 points to 385, still 91 points
behind the national norm, according to Karen DeWitt, "Test Scores Are
Up Slightly for College-Bound Students," New York Times, 27 August
2 3 9
NOT E S T O P AGE S 60 - 67
1992, A1 8 . I n the past few years blacks have improved their math SAT
scores more than any other group.
22. Kenneth B. Clark, "Blacks' S.A.T. Scores," New York Times, 21
October 1982, A3 1 .
23. William G1aberson, "U.S. Court Says Awards Based on S.A.T.s Are
Unfair to Girls," New York Times, 4 February 1989, 1 ; The AAUW Report:
How Schools Shortchange Girls (Washington, D.C.: American Associa
tion of University Women, 1992), 52-57; Howard Wainer and Linda S.
Steinberg, "Sex Differences in Performance on the Mathematics Sec
tion of the Scholastic Aptitude Test: A Bidirectional Validity Study,"
Harvard Educational Review 62, 3 (Fall 1 992): 323-336.
24. Steven Goldberg, "Numbers Don't Lie," New York Times, 5 July
1989, Op-Ed; Arthur M. Jaffe and Arthur S. Wightman, "No Defcit on
Campus," New York Times, 21 July 1 989, Letters.
25. For the history of IQ tests I have relied upon Stephen Jay Gould,
The Mismeasure of Man (and of woman, I might add) (New York: Nor
ton, 1 981 ).
26. A. R. Jensen, "How Much Can We Bost IQ and Scholastic
Achievement?" Harvard Educational Review 33 ( 1 969): 1 -123.
27. "Born Dumb?" Newsweek, March 3 1 , 1969, 84. See, for example,
Daniel Goleman, "An Emerging Theory on Blacks' .L. Scores," New
York Times, 10 April 1 988, EDUC 22-24.
28. "Irrational Testing Irrational Licensing Job Discrimination,"
Committee Report 1 , 4 (Fall 1987, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights
Under Law): 3-4; " Testing ' Red Herring' Blocks Civil Rights Bill,"
FairTest Examiner 5, 3 (Summer 1 991 ): 1 6.
29. See Elaine Mensch and Harry Mensch, The IQ Mythology: Class,
Race, Gender and Inequality (Carbondale, Ill. : Southern Ill inois Univer
sity Press, 1991).
30. Jonathan Beckwith, "Gender and Math Performance: Dos Biol
ogy Have Implications for Educational Policy?" Joural of Education lOS
( 1 983): 1 58-1 74. Also see Katherine Connor and Ellen J. Vargas, Gender
Bias in Standardized Testing, Proceedings of a Hearing Co-sponsored by
the National Commission on Testing and Public Policy and the National
Women's Law Center, Washington, D.C., 1 3 October 1989.
3 1 . Petersen and Hood, "Role of Experience."
32. Eleanor Wilson Orr, Twice As Less (New York: Norton, 1 987).
33. Reuven Feuerstein, Instrumental Enrichment (Baltimore: Univer-
sity Park Press, 1 980).
34. Schafer and Gray, "Sex and Mathematics."
35. Beckwith, "Gender and Math Performance."
36. Susan Chipman, "Far Too Sexy a Topic," Educational Re
searcher 1 7, 3 ( 1 988): 49.
37. Arthur B. Powell and Stuart Varden, "Computing Literacy for
Working Class Adults," Interface: The Computer Education Quarterly 5, 4
( 1 983-1 984): 49.
240
NOT E S TO P AGE S 6 7 - 7 3
38. Newsletter of Women and Mathematics Education 7 (Fall 1 984).
39. As I write this bok, the myths of innate inferiority are alive and
well. Michael Levin, philosophy professor at the City College of New
York, has written articles and is working on a book claiming that blacks
on average are less intelligent than whites. Nor are women off the hok,
in his estimation. In his antifeminist book, Feminism and Freedom (New
Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publications, 1987), he proclaims women's
innate inferiority in mathematics. His wife, a mathematician, is the
exception that proves the rule. For Levin's views on women, see Susan
Faludi. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women (New
York: Crown Publishers, 1 991 ), 296-300. For his writings on blacks, see
Robert D. McFadden, "Court Finds a Violation of a Professor's Rights,"
New York Times, 9 June 1992, B3.
40. Laurie Hart Reyes and George M. A. Stanic, "Race, Sex, Socioeco
nomic Status, and Mathematics," Joural for Research in Mathematics
Education 1 9 ( 1 988): 27; Campbell, "Girls and Math."
4 1 . Petersen and Hood, "Role of Experience."
42. Johnnetta B. Cole, Conversations: Straight Talk With America's Sis
ter President (New York: Doubleday, 1 993), 169.
Chapter 4. "A Mind Is A Terribl Ting To Waste":
Gender, Race, Ethnicity, and Class
I . "Child Poverty Worsens in 1990," CDF Reports 1 3 (November
1 991 ): I ; "Census Bureau Releases Report on American Indian Tribes,"
United States Department of Commerce, 7 February 1 990. See "Resil
ience, Schooling, and Development in African-American Youth," the spe
cial issue of the journal, Education and Urban Society 24 (November
1 991 ).
2. National Science Board, Educating Americans for the Z1 sl Centur
(Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation, 1983), 1 3.
3. Doris Entwisle and Karl L. Alexander, "Beginning Schol Mathe
matics Competence: Minority and Majority Comparisons," Report No.
33 (March 1989), Center for Research on Elementary and Middle
Schols. The Johns Hopkins University. See also Herbert P. Ginsburg
and Robert L. Russell, Social Class and Racial Infuence on Early Mathe
matics Thinking (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1 981 ), 56. Stud
ies in Florida, within Israel, and in the Israeli-occupied West Bank show
that socioeconomic status can be a more signifcant factor than either
sex or ethnicity in influencing mathematical performance and attitude
toward mathematics, according to Mary W. Gray, "Socioeconomic Fac
tors in Mathematics Achievement," presentation at the Sixth Interna
tional Congress on Mathematical Education. Budapest ( I 988). For fur
ther confrmation, see The AAUW Report: How Schools Shortchange
Girls (AAUW Educational Foundation and National Education Associa
tion, 1 992), 33-34.
2 4 1
N OT E S T O P AGE S 7 3 - 8 8
4. Isabel Wilkerson, "Class for the Gifted Requires More Than
Brains," New York Times, 2 1 February 1 990, AI .
5. Don Terry. "Cynicism and Hope: Diverse Voices of Black Youth,"
New York Times, 3 June 1992, A1 4. See the report, National Research
Council, A Common Destiny: Blacks and American Society (Washington,
D.C.: National Academy Press, 1989), showing that the status of blacks
as compared with whites had actually worsened in the previous ffteen
years in many areas, including education and earnings.
6. Research conclusions regarding females and mathematics are
from Patricia Clark Kenschaft and Sandra Zaroodny Keith, eds., Win
ning Women into Mathematics (Washington, D.C.: Mathematical Asso
ciation of America, 1991), 1 1 -1 2, and The AAUW Report ( 1 992), 1 0-1 3,
28-31 , unless other references are given. See also Elizabeth Fennema
and Gilah C. Leder, Mathematics and Gender (New York: Teachers Col
lege Press, 1 990), for an excellent analysis of current research.
7. "Math and Career Achievement: A Psychological Model for De
cision-Making," Research News (University of Michigan) 23 (Septem
ber-October 1982): 21 -22.
8. Phyllis Steinmann, "Prescription for Mathematics Anxiety: Some
Case Histories," Focus on Learing Problems in Mathematics 5 (Summer/
Fall 1 983): 2 1 .
9 . Susan Gross, Participation and Perormance o{Women and Minori
ties in Mathematics, Executive Summary (Rockville, Md.: Montgomery
County Public Schools, 1988), E7.
10. "Centennial Reflections on Women in American Mathematics,"
Newsletter (Association for Women in Mathematics) 1 8 (November
December 1 988): 8.
I I . "Making Everybody Count + . . " Focus 1 2 (April 1 992): 1 0-1 3.
1 2. Fred Chichester, personal communication.
1 3. Frank J. Swetz, "Cross-Cultural Insights into the Question of Male
Superiority in Mathematics: Some Malaysian Findings," in Mathemat
ics, Education, and Society, Christine Keitel, Peter Damerow, Alan Bish
op, and Paulus Gerdes, eds. (Paris: UNESCO, 1 989): 139-1 40.
1 4. Personal communication.
I S. Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering (Washington,
D.C.: National Science Foundation, 1 990), 125.
1 6. Westina Matthews, "Influences on the Learning and Participation
of Minorities in Mathematics," Joural {or Research in Mathematics Edu
cation 1 5 ( 1 984): 84-95.
1 7. James P. Comer, "Black Education: A Holistic View," The Urban
Review 8 ( 1 975): 162-1 70 (quote p. 167). Also see James P. Comer,
"Educating Poor Minority Children," Scientifc American 259 (Novem
ber 1988): 42-48; John Ogbu, Minority Education and Caste (New
York: Academic Press, 1978); Seth Mydans, "Black Identity vs. Suc
cess and Seeming 'White: " New York Times, 25 April 1 990, B9; Paul
Weckstein, "Education and the Economy: Why Better Schools Won't
2 4 2
NOT E S T O P AGE S 8 9 - 9 9
Necessarily Lead to Better Jobs," Rethinking Schools 7, 2 (Winter
1992-1 993): 1 7.
1 8. Jeff Howard and Ray Hammond, "Rumors of Inferiority: The
Hidden Obstacles to Black Success," New Republic, 29 September 1985,
17-2 1 ; Christina Robb, "Teaching the Basics of Motivation," Boston
Globe, 1 2 October 1989, 8 1 .
19. Lori B. Miller, "Black Youths Match Minds in Olympics," New
York Times, 6 July 1987, 1 2.
20. Teri Perl, Women and Numbers (San Carlos, Calif.: Wide World
Publishing(fetra, 1 993): 1 21 -1 37.
21 . William Celis 3d, "Hispanic Dropout Rate Stays High, Since Chil
dren Work in Hard Times," New York Times, 14 October 1 992, B9.
22. Olga Ramirez, "Mathematics Anxiety and Hispanic Undergradu
ates," Newsletter (Women and Mathematics Education) 10 (June 1988):
3, 5.
23. Jaime Escalante and Jack Dirmann, "The Jaime Escalante Math
Program," Joural of Negro Education 59 (Summer 1 990): 407-423; Wil
liam J. Bennett, James Madison High School (Washington, D.C.: United
States Department of Education, 1987): 28-29.
24. Douglas Blancero, "Italian-American Dropouts: The Silent Mi
nori ty," School Voices I (Summer 1991): 5; Felicia R. Lee, "20% Dropout
Rate Found for Italian Americans," New York Times, I May 1 990, B4.
25. "Mastering Mathematics," Research News (University of Michi
gan) 43 (Spring 1992): 2-5.
26. Yuh-Yng Lee, "I'm No Math Whiz," New Youth Connections (No
vember 1991): 7.
27. Lucy Sells, "Mathematics-A Critical Filter," Science Teacher 75
(1 978): 28-29.
28. Personal communication.
29. Quoted with permission, from a letter to Camille Benbow.
30. "Overcoming Disadvantages," New York Times, 29 March 1 986, 25.
3 1 . Patricia C. Kenschaft, "Black Women in Mathematics in the
United States," American Mathematical Monthly 88 ( 1981): 592-604.
32. Marcela Kogan, "Puerto Rican Feminist Speaks," New Directions
for Women (May/June 1987): 5; Carmen Gautier-Mayoral, "Forests Suf
fer for the Drug War, " New York Times, 1 8 August 1 990, 24, Letters.
33. Vera A. Preston and Linda Skinner, "Living within the Circle,"
Kui Tatk 2 (Winter 1986): 6.
34. Sau-Lim Tsang, " The Mathematics Education of Asian Ameri
cans," Joural for Research in Mathematics Education 1 5 ( 1 984): 1 1 4-122.
35. Take It from Us . . . You Can Be an Engineer (Fairfeld, Conn.: Gen
eral Electric Educational Communications Programs, 1987), unpaged.
36. Horace B. Deets, "Older Americans Go 'High Tech' Despite Ads,"
AARP Bulletin 32 (May 1991): 3.
37. Teri H. Perl, Math Equals (Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison-Wesley,
1978), 1 01 -1 1 1 ; Lord Vivian Bowden, ''The Language of Computers," in
243
N OT E S TO P AGE S 9 9 - 1 03
Mathematics: People, Problems, Results, Douglas M. Campbell and John
C. Higgins, eds. (Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth International, 1984), vol.
3, 2-14.
38. Claudia Zaslavsky, "Who Invented COBOL?" Newsletter of the As
sociation for Women in Mathematics 1 9 (January 1 989): 3-5; Jean E.
Sammet, "Farewell to Grace Hopper-End of an Era! " Communications
of the ACM 35 (April 1992): 1 28-1 3 1 .
Chapter 5. Our School Are Found Wanting
1 . National Commission on Secondary Scholing for Hispanics,
Make Something Happen-Hispanics and Urban High School Reform
(Washington, D.C.: Hispanic Policy Development Project, 1 984). The
Hispanic dropout rate has remained fairly stable since the mid-1970s,
according to The Condition of Education 1992 (Washington, D.C.: Na
tional Center for Educational Statistics, 1992), 7, a statistic that should
cause alarm.
2. U.S. Department of Education, What Works. Schools That Work:
Educating Disadvantaged Children (Pueblo, Colo.: Schools That Work,
1987), 3.
3. National Science Board Commission on Precollege Education in
Mathematics, Science and Technology, Educating Americans {or the 21 sl
Centur (Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation, 1983), vii.
4. Speech quoted in New York Times, 30 October 1984, B4.
S. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, An Imper
iled Generation: Saving Urban Schools (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni
versity Press, 1988).
6. Jane Perlez, "Schol Basks in Spotlight of Contest," New York
Times, 1 4 January 1988, Bl . In District 4, in East Harlem, students may
chose to attend any junior high schol; each school features a different
specialization. The district also supports the Central Park East alterna
tive elementary and secondary schols, affliated with Theodore Sizer's
Coalition of Essential Schools; see Deborah Meier, "Success in East
Harlem: American Educator 1 1 (Fall 1987): 34-39.
7. Doxey Wilkerson, Special Problems of Negro Education (Washing
ton, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Offce, 1 939), discussed in Maceo
Crenshaw Dailey Jr. and Ernest D. Washington, "The Evolution of
Doxey A. Wilkerson, 1935-1945," Freedomways 25 (Summer 1985):
1 01 -1 1 5. See H. Kenneth Bechtel's Introduction, in Willie Pearson, Jr.,
and H. Kenneth Bechtel, eds., Blacks, Science, and American Education
(New Brnswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1 989), 1 -10, for a his
tory of African-American education.
8. Ann Bastian et aI., Choosing Equality: The Case for Democratic
Schooling (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1 986), 47; Karen De
Witt, "Rising Segregation Is Found for Hispanic Students," New York
Times, 9 January 1992, A1 5.
244
NOT E S T O P AGE S 1 0 3 - 1 0 7
9. See Conrad K. Harper and Stuart Land, "The Injustice Depart
ment," New York Times, 14 April 1988, Op-Ed. The authors objected to
the dismissal by the U.S. Department of Justice of over two hundred
schol desegregation cases in Georgia, Alabama. and Mississippi.
10. Fred Hechinger, "About Education: Debate on the Role of Elite
Schols," New York Times, 5 February 1982, C8; Patricia C. Kenschaft,
"Black Women in Mathematics in the United States," American Mathe
matical Monthly 88 ( 1 981 ): 592-604.
I I . William J. Bennett, James Madison High School: A Curriculum for
American Students (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education,
1 987), 1 6-1 7; television station WWOR documentary, broadcast 27 No
vember 1988.
12. Lorraine Hansberry, "The Scars of the Ghetto," Monthly Review
41 (July/August 1989): 52-55.
1 3. Amy Stuart Wells, "Asking What Schools Have Done, Or Can Do,
to Help Desegregation," New York Times, 1 6 January 1 991 , 86.
14. Jane Perlez, "New York Schol Buildings Scarred by Years of
Neglect," New York Times, 13 May 1987, AI . Also see Susan Breslin,
Prmoting Poverty in New York City Schools (New York: Community Ser
vice Society, 1987), for inequities among local schools.
I S. Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
(New York: Crown Publishers, 1 991 ) . See p. 1 6 for the story of chemical
companies and East S1. Louis. On pp. 223-229 Kozol discusses the ineq
uity in Texas schol funding in 1 991 , ranging from $2,000 to $ 19,000 per
student. A later report in the New York Times (4 December 1992, A26)
describes per pupil spending in Texas as ranging from $2,337 to $56,791 !
California equalizes per pupil spending in all its districts, but at a rate
that is among the lowest in the nation. In 1978 California voters carried
out a tax revolt with a vengeance when they voted for Proposition 1 3, a
measure to limit property taxes. Other states followed suit soon after
wards. In wealthy areas parents raise money for school necessities, but
por schools must make do with what they have.
1 6. Deborah A. Verstegen and David L. Clark, "The Diminution in
Federal Expenditures for Education during the Reagan Administra
tion," Phi Delta Kappan 70 ( 1 988): 134-138; Margaret Spillane and
Bruce Shapiro, "A Small Circle of Friends," The Nation, 21 September
1992, 281 . William Celis 3rd, in his article, "A Texas-Size Battle to
Teach Rich and Por Alike," New York Times, 1 2 February 1992, A23,
notes that Texas and twenty-two other states are in court over the way
they fnance public schols. On the same page are listed the per pupil
expenditures in several New York State districts in the 1 990-1 991
schol year: $6,644 in New York City and about $30,000 in some subur
ban Long Island towns. In 1 981 a lawsuit was brought in the New
Jersey courts challenging inequitable schol funding. The New Jersey
Supreme Court ruled in 1 990 that the state had the obligation to
equalize funding among the poorest cities and the wealthiest suburbs,
245
N OT E S TO P AGE S 1 0 7 - 1 1 2
noting that Princeton schools had one computer for every eight stu
dents, while the ratio in Camden was one computer for ffty-eight
students, and Paterson schools limited computer use to the basic skills
remedial program mandated by the federal goverment. The court
concluded: "We fnd that under the present system the evidence com
pels but one conclusion: the poorer the district and the greater its
need, the less the money available, and the worse the education . . . .
Such funding must be guaranteed and mandated by the State," The
attempt by Democratic Governor James Florio to implement the rul
ing by imposing additional taxes resulted in an overwhelming victory
for the Republicans in the following state election and drastic cuts in
the new tax law. See "Excerpts from New Jersey Court Ruling on
School Financing," Ne York Times, 6 June 1 990, B4.
1 7. Gene Maeroff, Don't Blame the Kids (New York: McGraw-Hili,
1982), 192-197.
1 8. Lisa Syron, Discarded Minds: Ho Gender, Race and Class Biases
Prevent Young Women from Obtaining an Adequate Math and Science
Education in Ne York City Public Schools (New York: Center for Public
Advocacy Research, 1987), 35, 86.
1 9. Susan Gross, Participation and Perfonnance of Women and Minori
ties in Mathematics, Executive Summary (Rockville, Md.: Montgomery
County Public Schools, 1988), E4-EI 2. See Josephine D. Davis, "The
Mathematics Education of Black High Schol Students," in Pearson
and Bechtel, eds., Blacks, Science, 23-42.
20. Cora Bagley Marrett and Harold Gates, "Male-Female Enrollment
across Mathematics Tracks in Predominantly Black High Schools," Jour
nal (or Research in Mathematics Education 1 4 ( 1 983): 1 1 3-1 1 8. In Selma,
Alabama, parents and students of the African-American community or
ganized to overturn the school administration's practice of placing half
of all African-American students in the lowest track, based on such
flimsy criteria as "teacher recommendation" and "student maturity,"
thus shutting them out from taking algebra and other academic courses.
See Stan Karp, "Selma Students Tied to the Track, " Rethinking Schools 5
(October/November 1 990): I , 10.
2 1 . Leonard A. Valverde, "Underachievement and Underrepresenta
tion of Hispanics in Mathematics and Mathematics-Related Careers,"
loural (or Research in Mathematics Education 15 ( 1 984): 123-133.
22. Elvira Valenzuela Crocker, "The Report Card on Educating His
panic Women" (Washington, D.C.: Project on Equal Education Rights
[PEER], NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, 1983).
23. Cicely A. Rodway, "I Was Lucky If They Knew My Name: First
Generation Immigrant Students Speak Out," School Voices 2 (March
1 992): 1 6.
24. Michael Cole and Peg Griffn, eds., Contextual Factors in Educa
tion (Madison, Wisc.: Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 1 987),
27-28. For a full discussion of tracking, see Jeannie Oakes, Keeping
2 4 6
NOT E S TO P AGE S 1 1 3 - 1 1 8
Track: How Schools Structure Inequality (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Uni
versity Press, 1984), and Jeannie Oakes, Multiplying Inequalities: The
Effects of Race, Social Class, and Tracking on Opportunities to Lear
Mathematics and Science (Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corporation,
1 990).
25. Edward DeAvila, "Bilingualism, Cognitive Functioning, and Lan
guage Minority Group Membership,n in Linguistic and Cultural Influ
ences on Learing Mathematics, Rodney R. Cocking and Jose P. Mestre,
eds. (Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1988), I OI -I 2 l .
26. Edward B. Fiske, "America's Test Mania," New York Times ( 1 0
April 1988), EDUC 16-20. Also see National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathe
matics (Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics,
1 989); Susan Chira, "Study Finds Standardized Tests May Hurt Educa
tion Efforts," New York Times, 16 October 1992, A1 9; and publications of
the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest).
Other countries are not so caught up in the testing mania. Europeans
expect students to solve problems rather than to pick one right answer
out of four or fve, and teachers are trusted to use their own methods of
assessment. In a joint statement, published in Mathematics Teaching
122 (March 1988): 50-5 1 , as well as in other journals, several associa
tions of British educators protested a proposed national testing pro
gram, citing some of the objections discussed here.
27. Personal communication.
28. Myra and David Sadker, "Sexism in the Classrom: From Grade
Schol to Graduate School: Phi Delta Kappan 67 ( 1 986): 5 1 2-51 5;
Katha Pollitt, "Coeducation and Adolescent Girls," New York Times, 1 9
December 1985, C2. Cornelius Riordan, i n his bok, Girls and Boys in
School (New York: Teachers College Press, 1 990), argues that adolescent
girls might beneft from single-sex schooling.
29. Patricia Kenschaft, personal communication. Upon hearing about
the incident from her daughter, Dr. Kenschaft anonymously sent this
teacher a subscription to the newsletter of the Assoiation of Women i n
Mathematics. Not only did his own classroom behavior change dramati
cally, but he began to evangelize others.
30. Patricia Lund Casserly, Helping Able Young Women Take Math and
Science Seriously in School (New York: The College Board, 1979).
31 . Theodore Sizer, Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the Ameri
can High School (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1984), 37.
32. Mina Choi was a fnalist in the 1988 Westinghouse Talent Search
with her project, "Which of These Students Will Be Most Successful?"
33. "Fewer Degrees for Black Men in Maryland," New York Times, 1 6
November 1988, B8. Also see Diane Scott-Jones and Maxine L. Clark,
" The Schol Experiences of Black Girls: The Interaction of Gender,
Race, and Socioeconomic Status," Phi Delta Kappan 67 (March 1986):
520-526.
2 4 7
NOT E S T O P AGE S 1 1 9 - 1 24
34. Susan Gross, Participation and Perfonnance.
35. See, for example, Henry Giroux, Ideology, Culture, and the Process of
Schooling (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981 ); Michael Apple
and Lois Weis, Ideology and Practice in Schooling (Philadelphia: Temple
University Press, 1977), as well as their later writings. As applied to
mathematics education, see Michael W. Apple, .. Do the Standards Go Far
Enough? Power, Policy, and Practice in Mathematics Education, " Joural
for Research in Mathematics Education 23, 5 ( I 992): 41 2-431 ; Patricia B.
Campbell, "So What Do We Do with the Por, Non-White Female? Issues
of Gender, Race, and Social Class in Mathematics and Equity," Peabody
Joural of Education 66, 2 ( 1 989): 95-1 1 2; Walter G. Secada, "Agenda
Setting, Enlightened Selflnterest. and Equity in Mathematics Educa
tion," Peabody Joural of Education 66, 2 ( I 989): 22-56.
36. Jean Anyon, "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work,"
Joural of Education 162 (Winter 1 980): 67-92.
37. Herbert Kohl writes: "To agree to learn from a stranger who does
not respect your integrity causes a major loss of self. The only alterna
tive is to not-learn and reject the stranger's world." Quoted from I
Won' t Lear from You: The Role of Assent in Learing (Minneapolis:
Milkweed Editions, 1 991 ), 1 6. The students may have felt that the mate
rial was not worth learning because it would not lead to anything
worthwhile in their lives.
38. "The children of the poor, the underclass, the disadvantaged, the
forgotten are educated to become adults who are also members of
the underclass-the disadvantaged and the forgotten." Quoted from
Ralph Parish et aI., "Knock at Any School," Phi Delta Kappan 70
( 1 989): 387.
39. Curtis C. McKnight et aI., The Underachieving Curriculum: Assess
ing U.S. School Mathematics from an Interational Perspective (Cham
paign, Ill.: Stipes Publishing Company, 1987). See also Jeannie Oakes,
Multiplying Inequalities. In 1 990 The College Board initiated a project,
Equity 2000, with the goal: ''That by the end of the twentieth century,
students from minority and disadvantaged groups will attend and
complete college at the same rate as students from non-minority, ad
vantaged groups." To achieve that goal, all students will have studied
algebra and geometry by the end of the tenth grade of high school. In
a letter to the New York Times (26 November 1992), the president of
The College Board, Donald M. Stewart, wrote: "Given proper prepara
tion, appropriate support and adequate motivation, all students can
learn and succeed in demanding academic courses of the kind needed
for college prep or today's changing and challenging world of work. "
40. Gerald Coles, The Learing Mystique: A Critical Look at Learing
Disabilities (New York: Pantheon, 1 987), 205.
4 1 . Barbara S. Allardice and Herbert P. Ginsburg, "Children's Psy
chological Diffculties in Mathematics," in The Development of Mathe
matical Thinking (New York: Academic Press, 1983), 330.
248
NOT E S T O P AGE S 1 2 5 - 1 3 1
42. Allardice and Ginsburg, "Children's Psychological Diffculties,"
348-349.
43. Sheryl Hovey, "College Degree Programs for Working Adults," On
Campus 7 (May 1988): 8-9.
44. "Democracy's Colleges: ETS Policy Notes 3 (Winter 1 990): 1 , 6-7.
45. Roberta M. Hall and Bernice R. Sandler, The Classroom Climate:
A Chilly One for Women? (Washington, D.C.: Project on the Status and
Education of Women, Association of American Colleges, 1982).
46. Edward B. Fiske, "Even at a Former Women's College, Male Stu
dents Are Taken More Seriously, a Researcher Finds," New York Times,
I I November 1990, B8.
47. Shiela M. Strauss and Rena Subotnik, "Gender Differences in
Behavior and Achievement: A True Experiment Involving Random As
signment to Single Sex and Coeducational Advanced Placement (BC)
Calculus Classes," Final Report, 1991 (unpublished).
48. Ruth A. Schmidt, "American Women's Colleges Need Not Go
Cod or Go Under: New York Times, 4 June 1987, A26 Letters.
49. Sylvia T. Bozeman, "Black Women Mathematicians: In Short Sup
ply," Sage 6 (Fall 1989): 18-23.
SO. Kathleen Teltsch, "U.S. Indian Colleges Get First Big Corporate
Gift," New York Times, 1 7 July 1 991 , A1 9; William Celis 3rd, "Texas
College System Awaits Ruling in Hispanic Bias Case," New York Times, 4
December 1 991 , B16.
5 I. The College Board, Equality and Excellence: The Educational Sta
tus of Black Americans (New York: College Entrance Examination
Board, 1 985), 1 7-1 8. See also Laura I. Rendon and Estrella M. Triana,
Making Mathematics and Science Work for Hispanics (Washington, D.C.:
American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1989), and the
Quality Education for Minorities Project, Education That Works: An
Action Plan for the Education of Minorities (Cambridge, Mass.: Massa
chusetts Institute of Technology, 1 990).
52. J. W. Carmichael, Jr., and John P. Sevenair, "Preparing Minorities
for Science Careers, " Issues in Science and Technology 7 (Spring 1 991 ):
55-60.
53. Peter Applebome, "Epilogue to Integration Fight: Blacks Favor
Own Colleges," New York Times, 29 May 1 991 , AI , A2 1 ; Susan Chira,
"[Supreme Court] Ruling May Force Changes at Southern Colleges,"
New York Times, 27 June 1992, 10.
54. Isabel Wilkerson, "Racial Harassment Altering Blacks' Choices
on Colleges," New York Times, 9 May 1 990, AI , BI O.
55. Gary Orfeld, "Money, Equity, and College Access," Harvard Edu
cational Review 62, 3 ( 1 992): 337-372. See Gail E. Thomas, "Black Sci
ence Majors in Colleges and Universities," in Pearson and Bechtel, eds.,
Blacks, Science, 59-78.
56. Marsha Lakes Matyas and Shirley M. Malcom, eds., Investing in
Human Potential: Science and Engineering at the Crossroads, Executive
249
N OT E S T O P AGE S 1 3 2 - 1 5 2
Summary (Washington, D.C.: American Association for the Advance
ment of Science, 1 991 ), 9-10. See relevant chapters in Pearson and
Bechtel, eds., Blacks, Science.
Chapter 6. School Math i Not Necessarily /1 Math
I . Hassler Whi tney, "Coming Alive in School Mathematics and Be
yond," Educational Studies in Mathematics 1 8 ( 1 987): 229-242; Fred M.
Hechinger, "Learning Math by Thinking," New York Times, 1 0 June 1986,
CI , C7.
2. Judith Richards teaches at the Saundra Graham and Rosa Parks
Alternative School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. See Claudia Zaslav
sky, "People Who Live in Round Houses," Arithmetic Teacher 37 (Sep
tember 1989): 1 8-21 .
3. Erna Yackel, Paul Cobb, Terry Wood, Grayson Wheatley, and
Graceann Merkel, "The Importance of Social Interaction in Children's
Construction of Mathematical Knowledge," Teaching and Learing Ma
thematics in the 1 990s, 1990 Yearbook, Thomas J. Coney, ed. (Reston,
Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1 990), 12-21 .
4. Penelope L. Peterson, Elizabeth Fennema, and Thomas Carpen
ter, "Using Knowledge of How Students Think about Mathematics,"
Educational Leadership 46 (December 1988/January 1989): 42-46.
5. Phyllis Steinmann, "Prescription for Mathematics Anxiety: Some
Case Histories," Focus on Learing Problems in Mathematics 5 (Summer!
Fall 1 983): 1 5-24 (quotes are on 9-10).
6. Alan Schoenfeld, "When Good Teaching Leads to Bad Results,"
Educational Psychologist 23 ( 1 988): 143-166.
7. Cynthia Sylva and Robert P. Moses, "The Algebra Project: Making
Middle School Mathematics Count," Joural of Negro Education 59
( 1 990): 375-391 .
8. John D. Volmink, "Acquisition of Concepts and Constrction of
Meaning in Geometry," unpublished manuscript ( 1 987).
9. John Poland, "A Modern Fairy Tale," American Mathematical
Monthly 94 ( 1 987): 291 -295; Gloria 1 Gilmer and Scott Williams,
"An Interview with Clarence Stephens," UME Trends 2 (March 1 990): I ,
4, 7. The coauthors were students of Stephens at Morgan State Univer
sity. New York University professor Peter D. Lax begins his article "Cal
culus Reform: A Modest Proposal, " UME Trends 2 (May 1990): I . 4, with
the statement: "Among our many educational crimes, the one that
bears the greatest responsibility for the shortage of young Americans
choosing mathematics, physics, and engineering as careers may very
well be the wretched way we teach calculus."
10. AAUW Report, How Schools Shortchange Girls (American Asso
ciation of University Women Educational Foundation, 1992), 29; Alice
Miller, "Eureka! Summer Program in Math and Sports for Teenage
Girls," Newsletter (Association for Women in Mathematics) 18 (July-
2 5 0
NOT E S TO P AGE S 1 52 - 1 59
August 1988): 22-23. Another program that has been successful in en
gaging low-income and minority girls in science and math in many
parts of the United States is Girls Incorporated's Operation SMART.
Plans are underway to combine the Eureka and SMART programs. See
the "Resources" section for more information.
1 1 . Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics
(Reston, Va.: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989). Rele
vant reports from the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the
National Research Council are Everybody Counts ( 1 989), Reshaping
School Mathematics ( 1 990), and Moving beyond Myths: Revitalizing Un
dergrduate Mathematics ( 1 991 ) .
1 2. "Chicago Provides Free Calculators t o Students," New York Times,
5 January 1988, CI O. Calculators have become quite sophisticated; they
now do much more than add, subtract, mul tiply, and divide.
1 3. I taught in Greenburgh Central School District Seven, just north
of New York City. For a discussion of the mathematics curriculum we
developed, see Claudia Zaslavsky, "Multicultural Mathematics: One
Road to the Goal of Mathematics for All," in Reaching All Students with
Mathematics, G. Cuevas and M. Driscoll , eds. (Reston, Va.: National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1993).
14. See James A. Banks, "The Transformative Approach to Curriculum
Reform: Issues and Examples," in Empowennent through Multicultural
Education, Christine E. Sleeter, ed. (Albany: State University of New
York Press, 1991), 125-1 41 . Two texts for adults that incorporate these
perspectives are Marilyn Frankenstein, Relearing Mathematics (Lon
don: Free Association Books, 1989), and Richard H. Schwartz, Mathe
matics and Global Survival (Needham Heights, Mass.: Ginn, 1989).
1 5. Personal communication. D'Ambrosio was the founder in 1985 of
the International Study Group on Ethnomathematics; Dr. Gloria Gil
mer is president of the organization.
16. Paulus Gerdes, "How to Recognize Hidden Geometrical Think
ing: A Contribution to the Development of Anthropological Mathemat
ics," For the Learing of Mathematics 6 (June 1986): 1 0-1 2.
1 7. Books on this subject include Marcia Ascher, Ethnomathematics: A
Multicultural View of Mathematical Ideas (Pacifc Grove, Calif.: Brooks/
Cole, 1 991 ); Michael P. Closs, ed., Native American Mathematics (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 1986); George G. Joseph, Crest of the Peacock:
The Non-European Roots of Mathematics (New York: St. Martin's Press,
1 991 ); I van Van Sertima, Blacks in Science (New Brunswick, N.J.: Trans
action Books, 1 983); Claudia Zaslavsky, Africa Counts: Number and Pat
ter in African Culture (New York: Lawrence Hill Books, 1979).
1 8. For example, articles by Claudia Zaslavsky: "Bringing the World
into the Math Class," Curriculum Review 24 (January/February 1985):
62-65, and "Multicultural Mathematics Education for the Middle
Grades," Arithmetic Teacher 38 (February 1 991 ): 8-1 3; also Gloria Gil
mer, Mary M. Soniat-Thompson, and Claudia Zaslavsky, BuildingBridges
2 5 1
N OT E S TO P AGE S 1 5 9 - 1 65
to Mathematics: Cultural Connections (Menlo Park, Calif.: Addison
Wesley, 1992), activity cards for elementary and middle grades.
1 9. Quoted in Claudia Zaslavsky, "What Is Math For?" Urban Review
8 ( 1 975): 232-240.
20. Allyn Jackson, "Multiculturalism in Mathematics: Historical
Truth or Political Correctness?" in Heeding the Call for Change: Sugges
tions for Curriculum Action, Lynn Arthur Steen, ed. (Washington, D.C.:
Mathematical Association of America, 1 992): 1 21 -1 34 (citation on 1 30).
21 . Mary Harris, "An Example of Traditional Women's Work As a
Mathematics Resource," For the Learing of Mathematics 7 (November
1987): 26-28.
22. See, for example, Claudia Zaslavsky, "Symmetry in American
Folk Art," Arithmetic Teacher 38 (September 1 990): 6-12, an illustrated
article on mathematical symmetry in Dineh (Navajo) rugs and Ameri
can quilts, and Dorothy K. Washburn and Donald W. Crowe, Symmetries
of Culture (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1 988). The reader
might be surprised to fnd two articles on symmetry in Hungarian folk
needlework in the Joural of Chemical Education.
23. Allyn Jackson, "Multiculturalism," 128-129. See also Gloria
Gilmer, "An Interview with Abdulalim Abdullah Shabazz," UME Trends
3 (January 1 992): 8.
24. Dr. Carl Downing, director, Increasing the Participation of Native
American Students in Higher Mathematics, Central State University,
Edmond, Oklahoma. See also Lyn Taylor, Ellen Stevens, John J. Pere
goy, and Barbara Bath, "American Indians, Mathematical Attitudes,
and the Standards," Arithmetic Teacher 38 (February 1991): 14-21 .
25. Allyn Jackson, " Multiculturalism," 127-128.
26. L. P. Benezet, "The Teaching of Arithmetic: The Story of an Ex
periment, " Joural of the National Education Association 24, no. 8
( 1 935): 241 -244, no. 9 ( 1 935): 301 -303, and 25, no. I ( 1936): 2-3; re
printed in the Humanistic Mathematics Network Newsletter 6 (May
1 991 ): 2-14.
27. Whitney, "Coming Alive."
Chapter 7. Everbody Can Do Math: Solving the Poblm
1 . Munir Fasheh, "Mathematics in a Social Context," in Mathemat
ics, Education, and Society, Christine Keitel, Peter Damerow, Alan Bi
shop, and Paulus Gerdes, eds. (Paris: UNESCO, 1 989), 84-85. British
educator Mary Harris has written from the feminist point of view
about the mathematics inherent in various forms of work; see Mary
Harris, Schools, Mathematics and Work (London: Falmer Press, 1991).
2. Jean Lave, Cognition in Practice: Mind, Mathematics, and Culture
in Everday Life (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988): 47-59.
3. Eric Berger, Making It in Engineering (New York: Engineers Coun
cil for Professional Development, 1975), 2-3.
252
NOT E S T O P AGE S 1 6 5 - 1 7 7
4. Patricia Keegan, "Playing Favorites," Ne York Times, 6 August
1989, EDUC 26-27.
5. For suggested readings, see chapter 6, note 1 7.
6. Sonia Nieto, Afnning Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context ofMul
ticultural Education (New York: Longman, 1992): 1 1 9; see chapter 5,
"Cultural Issues and Their Impact on Learning," 109-1 52. A useful re
ference for applications to the learning of mathematics is Linguistic and
Cultural Infuences on Learing Mathematics, Rodney R. Cocking and
Jose P. Mestre, eds. (Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
1988).
7. Floy C. Pepper, "Is There an Indian Learning Style?" Kui Talk 2
(Winter 1 986), Native American Science Education Association.
. Elizabeth Fennema and Gilah C. Leder, eds., Mathematics and
Gender (New York: Teachers College Press, 1 990), 91 -92.
9. See, for example, Mary Be1enky, Blythe M. Clinchy, Nancy Gold
berger, and Jill M. Tarule, Women's Ways of Knowing: The Development
of Self, Body, and Mind (New York: Basic Books, 1 986); Carol Gilligan, In
a Different Voice: Psychological Theor and Women's Development (Cam
bridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982); Sue N Rosser, Female
Friendly Science: Applying Women's Studies Methods and Theories to At
tract Students (New York: Pergamon Press, 1990).
1. Deborah Tannen, "Language, Gender, and Teaching," Rethinking
Schools 6, 4 (May/June 1 992): 7, condensed from her article in the
Chrnicle of Higher Education, 19 June 1 991 .
1 1 . Gloria Steinem, Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem
(Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1 992), 189.
12. Rosser, Female Friendly Science, 29-30.
1 3. Dorothy Buerk, "The Voices of Women Making Meaning in Mathe
matics," Joural of Education 167, 3 ( 1 985): 59-70.
14. Rose Asera, personal communication; Allyn Jackson, "Minorities
in Mathematics: A Focus on Excellence, Not Remediation," American
Educator 1 3, 1 (Spring 1989): 22-27; "Novel Math Workshops Boost
Minority Students," Ne York Times, S August 1 992, B9.
Similar programs initiated by Dr. Clarence Stephens at Potsdam
College, State University of New York, and described in this book in
chapter 6, have attracted less publicity. For further discussion of Ste
phens's work, in addition to the references in chapter 6, note 9, see Pat
Rogers, "Student-Sensitive Teaching at the Tertiary Level: A Case
Study," Prceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference, 20-25 July 1988,
International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education,
vol. 2, 536-543.
O. Among the books and articles I have used are the following: Doro
thy Buerk, "The Voices of Women"; Dorothy Buerk, "Writing in Mathe
matics: A Vehicle for Development and Empowerment," in Using Writing
to Teach Mathematics, Andrew Sterrett, ed., MAA Notes #1 6, 78-84
(Washington, D.C.: The Mathematical Association of America, 1 990);
2 5 3
N OT E S T O P AGE S 1 7 8 - 1 9 9
Bonnie Donady and Susan Auslander, "The Math Anxiety Workshop,H
Focus on Learing Problems in Mathematics 1 , 4 (October 1 979): 57-66;
Marilyn Frankenstein, Relearing Mathematics (London: Free Associa
tion Books, 1989); Allyn Jackson, " Minorities in Mathematics"; Stanley
Kogeiman, Susan Forman, and Jan Asch, "Math Anxiety: Help for Minor
ity Students," American Educator 5 (Fall 1 981 ): 30-32; Stanley Kogel
man and Joseph Warren, Mind Over Math (New York: McGraw-Hili,
1 978); C. Ann Oxrieder and Janet P. Ray, Your Number's Up (Reading,
Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1982); Arthur B. Powell and Jose Lopez, "Writing
As a Vehicle to Learn Mathematics: A Case Study," in The Role ofWriling
in Learing Mathematics and Science, P. Connolly and Vilardi, eds.
(New York: Teachers College Press, 1 989), 269-303; Elisabeth Ruedy and
Sue Nirenberg, Where Do I Put the Decimal Point? (New York: Henry Holt
and Company. 1 990); Phyllis Steinmann, "Prescription for Mathematics
Anxiety: Some Case Studies," Focus on Learing Problems in Mathemat
ics 5 (Summer/Fall 1983): 1 5-24; Sheila Tobias, Overcoming Math Anxi
ety (New York: Norton, 1978).
1 6. Ruedy and Nirenberg, Where Do I Put . . . , chapter 6, "Confdence
Building Techniques."
1 7. National Research Council , Everbody Counts: A Report on the
Future of Mathematics Education (Washington, D.C.: National Academy
Press, 1 989), 10.
18. Steinmann's Algebra Blox are distributed by the EXA Company,
6928 East Sunnyvale Road, Paradise Valley, AZ 85253. See Leah P. Mc
Coy, "Correlates of Mathematics Anxiety," Focus on Learing Problems in
Mathematics 1 4, 2 ( 1 992): 51 -57. McCoy writes that the "use of manipu
lative materials for mathematics instruction has also been found to
reduce mathematics anxiety" (p. 5 1 ), in particular for the remediation
of adults who prefer a tactilekinesthetic mode of learning.
1 9. Ruedy and Nirenberg, Where Do I Put + . , 2.
20. Stephen . Brown and Marion 1. Walter, The Art o(Problem Posing,
2d ed. (Hillsdale, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1 990).
2 1 . Steinmann, "Prescription," 1 2-1 3.
22. Buerk, "Voices," 66-67.
23. Buerk, "Writing: 78.
24. Ruedy and Nirenberg, Where Do I Put + . . , 21 7.
Chapter 8. Families, the First Teachers
I . Thomas H. Maugh II, "Infants Have Math Ability at 5 Months,
Study Shows," Los Angeles Times, 27 August 1992, A3.
2. Patricia Kenschaft, personal communication.
3. Susan Gross, Participation and Perfonnance of Women and Minori
ties in Mathematics, Executive Summary (Rockville, Md.: Montgomery
County Public Schools, 1988), El 7.
4. Greenberg-Lake, Inc., Shortchanging Girls, Shortchanging Amer
2 5 4
NOT E S T O P AGE S 1 9 9 - 2 1 5
ica (Washington, D.C.: American Association of University Women,
1991), The results of "a nationwide poll to assess self esteem, educa
tional experience, interest in math and science, and career aspirations
of girls and boys ages 9-1 5. "
5. Cited in Sonia Nieto, Afrming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Con
text of Multicultural Education (New York: Longman, 1 992), 201 .
6. Research Report: "Herbert Ginsburg Loks at 'Personality and
Cognition: " Teachers College Today 1 5, 2 (FalllWinter 1987).
7. Harold W. Stevenson, "The Asian Advantage: The Case of Mathe
matics," American Educator I I , 2 (1 987): 26-3 1 , 47; Harold Steven
son and Shin-ying Lee, Contets of Achievement: A Study of American,
Chinese, and Japanese Children (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1 990).
8. Herbert Ginsburg, Children's Arithmetic: The Learing Process
(New York: Van Nostrand, 1977), 1 9. See, for example, Claudia Zaslav
sky, Preparing Young Children for Math: A Book of Games (New York:
Schocken Books, 1 986), activities for children aged two to eight.
9. See, for example, Constance Kamii, Young Children Reinvent Arith
metic (New York: Teachers College Press, 1985). In her introduction,
Kamii writes: "Traditional education unwittingly aims at blind obedi
ence rather than critical, independent thinking" (pp. ix-x).
10. Fred M. Hechinger, "About Education: Repeating Kindergarten:
Does It Hurt More Than It Helps?" New York Times, 14 September
1988, B9. Hechinger is commenting on the report by Lorrie A. Shepard
and Mary Lee Smith, " Flunking Kindergarten: Escalating Curriculum
Leaves Many Behind," American Educator 1 2, 2 ( 1 988): 34-38. The
authors tell of "the principal who visits each May, test scores in hand,
seeking an explanation as to why several of the children are not above
the national norms." See also David Elkind, Miseducation: Preschoolers
at Risk (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987).
I I . Phyllis Steinmann, "Prescription for Mathematics Anxiety: Some
Case Histories," Focus on Learing Problems in Mathematics 5, nos. 3
4 (1 983): 3-4.
1 2. Virginia Thompson, " FAMILY MATH: Linking Home and Mathe
matics," in Mathematics, Education, and Society, Christine Keitel, Peter
Damerow, Alan Bishop, and Paulus Gerdes, eds. (Paris: UNESCO,
1989), 62-65. See also Virginia Thompson, "Family Math," Mathematics
Teacher 80, I ( 1 987): 76. To order the Family Math curriculum guide and
flmstrip, contact EQUALS, Lawrence Hall of Science, University of
California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
1 3. Cynthia M. Silva and Robert P. Moses, "The Algebra Project: Mak
ing Middle Schol Mathematics Count," Joural of Negro Education 59,
3 ( 1 990): 390.
14. J. W. Carmichael, Jr., and John P. Sevenair, "Preparing Minorities
for Science Careers, " Issues in Science and Technology 7, 3 ( 1 991 ): 55-
60; Beatriz C. Clewell, "Intervention Programs: Three Case Studies," in
2 5 5
N OT E S T O P AGE S 2 1 5 - 223
Willie Pearson, Jr., and H. Kenneth Bechtel, eds., Blacks, Science, and
American Education (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press,
1989), 105-122.
15. National Research Council. Everbody Counts: A Report to the
Nation on The Future of Mathematics Education (Washington, D.C.: Na
tional Academy Press, 1 989), 2.
Chapter 9. Mathematics of the People, b the Peopl, for
the People
1 . Jonathan Kozol, Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
(New York: Crown Publishers, 1991), 127.
2. Paulo Freire, The Politics of Education (South Hadley, Mass.:
Bergin and Garvey, 1985), 1 1 3-1 1 6. See also James A. Banks, "The Trans
formative Approach to Curriculum Reform: Issues and Examples," in
Empowennenl through MulticulturalEducation, Christine Sleeter, ed. (Al
bany: The State University of New York Press, 1991), 125-1 41 .
3. Seymour Melman, "Can We Convert from a Military to a Civil
ian Economy?" The Churchman's Human Quest, March, April 1988.
Also see Seymour Melman, "The Peace Dividend: What to Do with the
Cold War Money," New York Times, 17 December 1989, Forum; Leslie
H. Gelb, "Foreign Affairs: $ 1 .5 Trillion 'Defense: " New York Times, 1 7
April 1992, Op-Ed.
4. James S. Jackson, "From Segregation to Diversity: Black Percep
tions of Racial Progress," Rackham Reports (1987-1988), Horace H.
Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan, 55.
5. Quoted in Joanne Rossi Becker and Mary Barnes, " Report on
Women and Mathematics: Topic Area at Fifth Interational Congress on
Mathematical Education," Newsletter (International Organization of
Women in Mathematics Education) I (April 1985): 1 3.
6. Nancy Shelley, "Mathematics: Beyond Good and Evil?" presented
at Seventh International Congress on Mathematical Education, 1 6-23
August 1992.
7. Shelley, "Mathematics."
8. "Briefng: Mathematicians Oppose ' Star Wars.' " New York Times,
3 1 May 1988, B6.
256

Ix
abacus, 1 55 fg.
ability: and achievement norms,
44; cognitive, 63; problem
solving, 1 1 3, 137
accountability, 1 1 3, 135
achievement: and discrimination,
72; gender differences, 49, 53;
measuring. 1 1 3; norms,44; and
parental expectations, 73; read
ing, 1 1 2; andstancardized tests,
48
ACT, 47
ADA computer language, 98-99
affrmative action, 28, 63, 67
African Americans, 4; careerrepre-
sentation, 45, 77; college at
tendance, 1 26; educational
performance, 44, 1 10; learning
styles, 174, 176; poverty factor,
70, 71 , 72; theories of innate infe
riority, 47, 241 n39
African women: and mathemat
ics, 85; and spatial ability
tasks, 54, 56
Afro-American Cui tural, Technolog
ical and Scientifc Olympics, 89
algebra, 146-1 5 1 , 1 53; manipulat
ing, 182-183; relationships in,
1 81 ; words into, 1 50
Algebra Blox, 5 1 , 1 81
Algebra Project, 147, 21 3-2 1 4
Allardice, Barbara, 1 24-125
American Association for the Ad-
vancement of Science, 46
American Association of Retired
Persons, 97
American Association of Univer
sity Women, 198-199
American College Testing Pro
gram, 47
Anyon, Jean, 122
Apple, Michael, 1 2 1
Appleby, Doris, 82
approximation, 1 53
area, fguring, 133
Ascher, Marcia, 91
Asian Americans: career represen
tation, 45; learning style, 1 76;
parental expectations, 92-93,
1 99-200; testing scores of, 58-
59, 1 1 0; theories of innate supe
riority, 48, 59, 92, 96
Asian women, and mathematics,
83-84, 164
Association for Women i n Mathe
matics, 129
astronomy, Maya, 91
authority: outside, 1 71 ; teacher's,
139, 1 5 1 , 1 71 , 194, 21 7
Babbage, Charles, 97
Baker, Russell, 5
Barbie dolls, 76
Beckwith, Jonathan, 63
behavior: individual and group,
1 1 2; sexist, 92, 93, 1 1 5
Benbow, Camille, 47-48, 49, 63,
65, 66
Benezet, L. P. , 162
Berriozabal, Manuel, 162
Bilingual Education Act of 1968,
44
bilingual programs, 1 1 2
Binet, Alfred, 62
Blancero, Douglas, 92
Bosman, William, 1 58
boys: and computers, 97; paren
tal expectations, 75; preferen
tial treatment by teachers,
1 1 5-1 16, 127; spatial ability,
48, 49, 5 1 , 239n1 2; theories of
innate superiority, 49
257
I N D E X
Brooks, Andree, 79
Buerk, Dorothy, 174, 1 87, 1 88
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 29
calculators, 123, 1 53, 1 67 , 201 ,
2I O, 25 I nI 2
calculus, 149-1 51 , I SS; cookbook,
149
calendars, 91 ; lunar, 87
Campbell, Patricia, 58
Cannell, John, 1 1 4
careers: barriers to, 27; counsel
ing, 21 3; goals in, 93-96; involv
ing computers, 97; need for
higher-level skills, 28; need for
math in, 26, 1 7 1 ; restricted ac
cess to, 2; underrepresentation
ofminorities in,44; women's, 1 6
Casserly, Patricia, 1 1 7
Census Bureau, 36, 71 -72, 78, 80,
89
Cheek, Helen Nealy, 95
Chipman, Susan, 67
Choi, Mina, 1 1 8, 1 1 9 fg.
Christen, Yves, 66
Cittadino, Mary Jo, 5, 8, 26, 47,
69, 1 00, 132, 163, 1 93, 21 0
Civil Rights Commission, I I I
Clark, Kenneth, 60, 61
Clark, Reginald, 199
class: and equal opportunity,
1 21 -125; influence on learning,
68; and mathematical poten
tial, 70-74; and mathematics,
2, 21 6, 21 7, 24ln3; and power
structure, 67; relation to test
ing, 58, 59, 59 fg.; theories of
innate inferiority, 47
COBOL computer language, 99
Cognitively Guided Instruction
program, 1 37-1 38
Cole, Johnnetta, 68
Coles, Gerald, 1 24
colleges, 1 25-1 31 ; community,
126; historically black, 68, 127,
128, 150; predictors of success
in, 60; remediation in, 1 9, 125;
requirements, 37; restricted ac
cess to, 2, 93; two-year, 1 26;
workers', 126. See also
universities
College Entrance Examination
Board, 59, 60, 61
Comer, James, 88
computation, 75, 140, 1 52, 1 53,
I SS, 167
computers, 1 1 , 34, 67, 96-99, 107,
153, 167, 2 1 0, 246n16; age in
volvement with, 97; languages,
98-99; phobias, I I ; varied ap
plications for, 3 1 , 36
Congressional Committee on Un
American Activities, 129
Consumer Price Index, 33, 40
counseling, 1 10, l i S ; bias in, 1 1 7;
career, 21 2-21 3; and discour
agement of girls, 1 1 7
counting, 87, 1 52, 168, 194, 201
Cozzens, argaret, 39
Cuisinaire rods, 135, 1 81
culture: dominant, 170, 21 7:
effect on attitudes to mathe
matics, 83-84; and ethno
mathematics, 157-162; mathe
matical practices in, 2; and
mathematics, 85-93, 170; of
militarism, 21 9-223; stereo
types in, 84
Cuomo, ario, 26
curriculum: content, 21 2; innova-
tive, 109; rigidity in, 135, 204
D'Ambrosio, Ubiratan, 1 57
decimals, 1 3, 20, 154
Dennis, Giovannae, 165
desegregation, 44, 105, 128, 154,
245n9
discrimination: and achievement,
72; economic, 1 01 ; in employ
ment, 28-29; ethnic, 27, 44; gen
der, 27, 44; race, 27, 44, 1 01 ;
sex, 1 27; social, 1 01 ; testing jus
tifcation for, 62
Drew, Charles, 103
dyslexia, 125
Educating Americans [or the 21 sl
Centur (National Science
Board), 44, 72
education: "banking" method,
21 7; continuing, 32-33; domi
nating, 21 6-217; equal opportu-
2 5 8
I N D E X
nity in, 24, 46, 1 2 1 -1 25; fac
torylike systems of, 1 37; human
istic, 21 6-217; limiting access
to, 2, 62, 93, 109; mathematics,
100; parent, 73; special, 63,
124; traditional , 255n9; under
represented and underserved
populations, 43-44
Educational Testing Service, 53,
56, 58, 60
Education Amendments of 1972,44
employment: affrmative action
in,63; benefts, 30, 45; blue
collar, 29; discrimination in. 28-
29; expectations of African
American women, 77; female,
28; gender issues, 77; inequities
in, 28; new technology in, 30-3 1 ;
women's wages in, 34, 35-36
empowerment, 1 21 -123
EQUALS program, 8
Escalante, Jaime, 90
estimation, 1 38, 1 41 , 153, 1 62,
201 , 202
estrogen, 239n 1 2
ethnic: discrimination, 27, 44;
proportions in math education,
1 10; stereotypes, 24, 90, 92
ethnomathematics, 157-162, 179
ETS. See Educational Testing
Service
false positives, 39
Faludi, Susan, 79
family: importance of involve
ment in learning, 1 98-200; role
in learning mathematics, 193-
21 5. See also parents
FAMILY MATH program, 193,
21 0-21 2
Fasheh, Munir, 1 64
Ferrini-Mundy, Joan, 53
Feuerstein, Reuven, 64
Finding OutiDescubrimiento pro
gram, 1 1 2, 1 1 3
flash cards, 1 38
Focus on Learing Problems in
Mathematics, 125
fractions, 202
Freire, Paul, 21 6, 21 7
Fuller, Thomas, the African Calcu
lator, 1 58
funding; federal, 28, 107, 124, 130
fg. ; grant scarcity, 128; inequi
ties in, 245n1 5, 245n1 6; for
minorities, 44; for special edu
cation, 124; tax-based system,
106, 107, 245n1 5
gares, 200, 202, 204, 210; card,
194; of chance, 41 , 1 58, 159;
mankala, 133; Owari, 133, 1 34
fg.; puzzles, 41 ; of skill, 1 58;
Steal the Bundle, 194, 195-196;
strategy, 41 ; video, 97
Gautier, Carmen, 95
gender: differences in achieve
ment, 49, 53; discrimination,
27, 44; influence on learning,
68; and mathematics, 2, 24, 65,
75, 81 -85, 1 71 -1 76; and power
structure, 67; relation to test
ing, 56, 58, 61 fg., 66; stereo
types, 24, 65, 75; traditional
roles, 89-90
genetic theories: gender superior
ity, 47-48; of intelligence, 62;
racial superiority, 47-48, 62-
63, 67
geometry, 146-1 51 , 153, 155, 210,
21 6
Gerdes, Paulus, 1 57
Gilmer, Gloria, 159
Ginsburg, Herbert, 1 24-125, 199
girls: athletic activities, 75-76;
learned helplessness in, 76; pa
rental influence on, 1 6; social
ization of, 1 71 ; spatial ability,
48, 52. See also gender; women
Giroux, Henry, 1 21
Goldbach's conjecture, 175
Goldberg, Steven, 61
grades, as predictors of college
success, 60
Graduate Record Exam, 1 9
Granville, Evelyn Boyd, 27, 103
graphs, 39, 42, 1 54, 1 55, 21 0
Hai Van Vu, 96
Hallett, Deborah Hughes, 1 9-20
Hansberry, Lorraine, 1 04
Harrington, Charles, 94
Harris, Mary, 159
Hastings, Maryam, 82
2 5 9
I N D E X
Henderson, David, 25
Hendren, Gary, 144
Higher Education Act of 1965, 44
Hilton, Thomas, 53
Hispanics, 4; careerrepresenta
tion, 45; college attendance, 1 26;
dropout rates, 1 01 , 24401 ; educa
tional performance,44, 1 10; pov
erty factor, 70, 7 1 ; segregation
of, 103; and tracking, I I I ; tradi
tional gender roles, 89-90, I I I
homework, 123, 205, 21 2
Hooker, Brian, 89
Hopper, Grace, 98-99
Howard, Jeff, 89
Huff, Darrell, 37
Hunt, Fern, 1 1 6
Immigration Act of 1924, 62
income, household, 33
infation, 38, 40
information processing, 3 1
Instrumental Enrichment pro-
gram, 65
intelligence quotient, 48; testing
for, 61 -65
Interactive Mathematics Project,
148, 1 63
interest, fguring, 1 54
International Congresses on
Mathematics Education, 77
International Study Group on
Ethnomathematics, 1 59
Inuit, 54
IQ. See intelligence quotient
Ishango bone, 87
Italian Americans, and education,
90, 92
Jackson, James, 21 8 , 21 9
Jensen, Arthur, 62-63, 64, 65, 67
Jones, Eleanor, 94-95
judgment: numerical, 52; spatial,
52
Kenschaft, Patricia, 197-198
Koretz, Daniel, 1 1 4
Kozol, Jonathan, 106, 107, 21 6
Kutscher, Ronald, 29
labeling, 4, 108, 124; cultural, 3;
ethnic, 3
Lake Wobegon effect, 1 14
Laney College, 20
language: computer, 97, 99; of
mathematics, 135, 1 36, 167, 1 91 ;
minorities, 44, 96; profciency,
96, 1 1 1 , 167; prohibitions, I I I ;
simplifying, 184; skills, 64
LatinosiLatinas. See Hispanics
Laurence, Margaret, 57
Lawyers' Committee Employ-
ment Discrimination Project,
63
learning: affective aspects of, 173;
assessment methods, 1 53; cli
mate, 1 53; control over, 168; co
operative, 1 1 2, 1 1 3, 128, 134,
1 35, l S I , 1 73, 1 74, 187-188,
21 0; creative, 123; disabilities,
48, 124, 125; emotion in, 199;
environmental factors in, 68; ex
periences, 53; factors influenc
ing, 1 1 2-1 1 3; lifelong, 29;
masculine mode, 173; nontradi
tional, 176; passive, 1 53; poten
tial, 64, 125; preschol, 200-
204; social context, 125; stu
dents' control of, 135; styles,
125, 168-1 71 , 173, 179; tactile
kinesthetic mode, 254n18;
women's ways of, 1 71 , 1 73
Learning Potential Assessment De-
vice, 64
Lightfoot, Sara Laurence, 57
logic, 147, 148
Lorch, Lee, 1 29
Lovelace, Lady Ada Byron, 97-98
male: sexist behavior, 82, 93; take
over of learning situations, 96;
teacher attitudes, 82-83, 93-
94, 1 1 5, 1 1 9; teachers, 127
Malone-Mayes, Vivienne, 77, 129
map reading, 204
Marshack, Alexander, 87
materials: access to, 123; Algebra
Blox, 5 1 , 1 81 ; concrete, 184,
209; Cuisenaire rods, 135, 1 81 ;
flash cards, 138; manipulative,
1 22, 1 35-136, 254nI8
math anxiety, 2, 7, 126; and age,
19; and computers, I I ; inci-
260
I N D E X
dents causing, 1 2, 1 4; in men,
7; overcoming, 176-192; psy
chological effects, 2; societal
factors in, 2; in teachers, 1 5; in
women, 7
mathematics: civic applications,
39; class factors in, 2; and com
puters, 96-99; contemporary
learning, 1 5 1 -1 56; as "critical
filter," 2, 93; cultural applica
tions, 41 , 43, 1 33-1 34; cultural
attitudes, 85-93; developmen
tal, 1 7; discrimination in, 27;
eighth-grade curriculum, 1 23-
124; elementary, 133-145; esti
mation in, 138, 1 41 , 1 53, 162,
201 , 202; experiences of, 168;
flexibility of, 159; frozen, 1 57;
and gender, 2, 1 71 -1 76; hidden,
1 57; humanistic applications,
21 9, 223; and induction of
stress, S; informal, 194; integra
tion with other subjects, 1 33,
134, 1 55; interest computation,
1 54; journals in, 1 88, 190; lan
guage of, 1 35, 1 36, 167, 1 91 ;
learning styles, 168-1 71 ; lei
sure applications, 41 ; manipu
lating, 22-23; measurement in,
87, 133, 1 53, I SS, 1 58, 164, 194,
201 , 210; memorization in, 1 6,
20, 2 1 , 64, 1 35, 1 36, 1 38, 140,
142, 149; misconceptions
about, 2 1 ; necessity for, 26-46;
original, 1 51 -1 56; out-of-school
experiences, 21 4; "people's,"
1 57-1 62; practical applica
tions, 38; for preschoolers, 200-
204; probability in, 148, 1 53,
1 54, I SS, 1 58, 190, 2 1 0; profes
sional applications, 41 ; and
race, 2; real, 132-162; "Record
Keeping," 109, 142; relevance
to real world, 1 54; remedial, 8,
12, 17, 1 9, 1 76, 184, 190; re
quirements, 2; school, 21 , 164-
165; for school-age children,
204-206; school vs. real, 132-
162; shop, 147; and spatial
ability, 52; statistics in, 1 79;
supplemental activities, 21 0;
universal use of, 163-192; use
of current affairs in, 1 55; value
of writing in, 1 88-1 89
Mathematics Workshop Program,
1 74, 176
Maths in Work Project, 1 59, 160
fg.
Maya Indians, 90, 91
measurement, 1 33, 1 53, I SS, 1 58,
164, 194, 1 97, 201 , 21 0; stan
dardization of, 164; time, 87, 91
media: influence on public opin-
ion, 49, 63, 78; reports on math
anxiety, 7
memorization, 16, 20, 2 1 , 64, 135,
136, 1 38, 140, 142, 149
militarism, 94, 21 9-223
Millbanke, Annabella, 97
"Mind Over Math" program, 9
minorities: college attendance of,
248n39; effect of poverty on,
128; negative impact of track
ing on, 124. See also individual
groups
Montgomery County, Md., study,
109-1 1 0
Moorman, Jeanne, 78
mortality, infant, 38
Moses, Bob, 147
Nabikov, Peter, 172
National Centers for Disease Con
trol, 42
National Council of Teachers of
Mathematics, 1 52, 21 3
National Research Council, 32
National Science Board, 72
National Science Board Commis-
sion on Precollege Education in
Mathematics, Science, Technol
ogy, 1 01
Native Americans, 4, 89, 95-96,
1 61 , 166; career representation,
45; college attendance, 126;
learning style, 170-1 71 , 1 72;
settlement of claims, 154;
women's spatial ability tasks,
54, 56
New York State Regents exams,
60
2 6 1
I N D EX
Ne York Times, 1 1 , 29, 30, 33, 37,
38, 47, 74, 76, 79, 105, 106, 1 41 ,
1 50, 1 54, 1 85, 21 8, 220
Nieto, Sonia, 1 70
Nirenberg, Sue, 192
notation, base-ten, 1 3, 22-23, 182
numbers, 1 3, 143, 1 58, 197; con-
crete experience with, 1 36; odd
and even, 1 59; operations with,
206; properties of. 1 81 ; theory,
148; two-digit, 207
numerals, 1 3; Roman, 1 3
numeration, 206; positional, 91
Operation SMART program, 21 4,
25 1 n 1 0
Ortiz-Franco. Luis, 45
Paisano, Edna Lee, 89
parents: associations, 21 3; com
petitive, 204; differential gen
der expectations, 75-77, 1 99;
education, 73; expectations,
73, 92, 207-210; helping pre
schoolers, 200-204; influence of
stereotypes on, 16; outlook on
daughters' abilities, 49, 199;
and school-age children, 204-
206; and teachers, 21 2. See also
family
Paulos, John Allen, 39
percentages, 1 54, 1 56
perimeter, fguring, 133
place value, 1 55, 206, 209
Poland, John, 1 29
Post, Steve, 6, 7
poverty, 44, 70-74
Powell, Arthur, 67, 1 89
power structure, 67
probability, 148, 1 53, 1 54, 1 55,
1 59, 190, 21 0
problem-solving, 1 34, 1 37, 164,
168, 184, 21 7; approaches to,
169-1 70; clues, 1 41 ; real, 1 40-
1 41 , 143, 1 52; stories, 140-1 41 ;
textbook, 142; trial and error
in, 206; word, 144
Professional Development Pro
gram, 1 76
programs: Algebra Project, 147,
21 3-21 4; bilingual, 1 1 2; Cogni-
lively Guided Instruction, 137-
1 38; college, 226; compensa
tory, 67; EQUALS, 8; Eureka,
1 52; FAMILY MATH, 1 93, 2 10-
21 2; Finding Out/Descubrimi
enlo, 1 1 2, 1 1 3; inappropriate, I ;
Instrumental Enrichment, 65;
Interactive Mathematics Proj
ect, 148, 163; intervention, 21 5,
225; Mathematics Workshop
Program, 174, 1 76; Maths in
Work Project, 159, 160 fg.;
"Mind Over Math," 9; Operation
SMART, 21 4, 251 nl O; original
research, 1 5 1 ; precollege, 225-
226; Professional Development
Program, 176; Project Bridge,
20; summer bridge, 1 5, 1 25, 146,
169, 226; TexPREP, 162
Project Bridge program, 20
public schools: African-American,
1 1 0; A. Philip Randolph Cam
pus High Schol (New York),
103; Boston, Mass., 104; Char
lotte, N.C., 104; Chicago, III.,
73, 104, 199; Dunbar High
School (Washington, D.C.), 103;
East St. Louis, III., 106; Gar
feld High Schol (East Los An
geles), 103; Louisville, Ky. , 104;
Memphis, Tenn., 73; middle
class, 1 22-123; Montgomery
County (Md_), 77, 109, 1 1 8,
198-199; New Orleans, La.,
1 1 8; New York City, 102, 104,
106, 108-109; Toledo, Ohio,
107; upper-class, 1 23-124;
Washington, D.C., 64;
Winnetka, III. , 106; working
class, 122; Yonkers, N.Y., 105
Quindlen, Anna, 106
race: discrimination, 27, 44; influ
ence on learning, 68; and
mathematics, 2; and power
structure, 67; relation to test
ing, 58, 60, 86; stereotypes, 24,
44, 65, 72, 89; theories of innate
inferiority, 48, 89
Reagan, Ronald, 220
Z Z
I N D E X
"Record Keeping," 109, 142
remediation, 8, 1 2, 1 7, 1 9, 107,
124, 125, 176, 1 84, 190
resources, 225-237
Reyes, Laurie Hart, 68
Richards, Judy, 1 33-1 35, 157-1 59
right-brainlleft-brain differences,
52
role models, 70, 84, I I I , 1 1 6, 1 20,
130
Roman-Lazen, Evelyn, 21 4
Ruedy, Elisabeth, 192
Sadker, Myra and David, l i S, 1 1 7
Sammet, Jean, 99
SAT. See Scholastic Aptitude Test
Scarupa, Harriet Jackson, 1 1 6
Schneider, Claudine, 37
Scholastic Aptitude Test, 6, 47,
48, 49, 5 1 , 56-61 , 66, 1 1 0
schools: abuse in, I l l ; alternative,
102; competitive environment
of, 1 70; court-ordered busing,
104; desegregation, 44; effect on
desire to learn, 1 37; elementary,
1 2; environment, 107-1 1 3;
equal opportunity in, 24, 46,
1 21 -125; funding in, 102, 103-
107; inadequacies in, 1 , 100; in
equality in, 70, 102; magnet, 88,
102; reform in, 1 01 -1 02, 1 52;
segregation in, 95, 102, 103-107,
128; single-sex, 1 27-128; soial
promotion in, 100-1 01 ; tracking
in, 2, 62, 68, 107-1 1 3, 21 2; train
ing in, 54; workers', 1 26
Second Interational Mathemat-
ics Study, 123-124
segregation, 104, lOS, 128
Sells, Lucy, 2, 93, 94
sexist behavior, 82, 92, 93, 1 1 5
Shabazz, Abdulalim, 160-1 61
Shalala, Donna, 1 0 I -I 02
Shelley, Nancy, 21 9, 222, 223
"shop" mathematics, 147
Sizer, Theodore, 1 1 7
skills: academic, 125; analytical,
202; basic, 1 53, 21 2; cognitive,
65; computation, 1 53; counting,
194; critical thinking, 202; de-
velopmental. 56, 125; on enter
ing school, 73; estimation, 138;
higher-order, 28, 1 53, 205; lan
guage, 64; leadership, 1 76; new,
29; spatial, 53; test-taking, 61 ;
thinking, 64, 1 1 2, 1 53, 205
Siapin, Beverly, 166
smoking, 42-43
social status. See class
Soroban, 1 55 fg.
sorting, 61 ; negative impact of,
124; for role expectation, 1 21 -
122. See also tracking
spatial ability, 48, 49, 5 1 -56,
239nl 2
Spelman College, 68, 1 27-128,
1 50
Spikes, Dolores Richard, 86, 128
Stanford-Binet IQ test, 63-64
Stanic, George, 68
Stanley, Julian, 48-49, 63, 65, 66
State University of New York at
Potsdam, 129, 1 51
statistics, 29, 34, 37, 41 , 65, 94,
132, 1 53, 1 54, I SS, 179, 2 10; sus
pect use of, 78
Steal the Bundle, 194, 195-196
Stein, Andrew, 220
Steinem, Gloria, 173
Steinmann, Phyllis, 50-5 1 , 1 81 ,
187
Stephens, Clarence, 129, 1 5 1
stereotypes, I , 59, 63,68, 1 1 8, 1 70-
1 7I , 1 74, 1 76, 201 ; cultural, 84;
ethnic, 24, 59, 90, 92; gender, 24,
65; influence on parents, 1 6; ra
cial, 24,44, 65, 72, 89; of
women's math abilities, 1 6
Strauss, Shiela, 127
stress, 5; in test taking, 1 6
summer bridge programs, I S,
125, 146, 169, 226
Sward, Marcia, 81
Swetz. Frank, 83-84
Syron, Lisa, 108-109
Tannen, Deborah, 173
Taylor, Dena, 87
teachers: as authority, 1 39, 1 5 1 ,
1 71 , 194, 21 7; belief in chil
dren's abilities, 65; as cause of
263
I N D E X
teachers (continued)
math anxiety, 1 4; effect on stu
dent's achievement, 1 1 3-1 21 ,
127; importance of attitude to
students, 20, 1 10-1 1 1 , 127;
male, 82-83, 93-94, l i S, 1 1 9,
127; math anxiety in, I S, 1 1 9,
1 21 ; in middle-class schools,
122-1 23; preferential treat
ment of boys, 1 1 5-1 1 6, 1 1 9,
127; sensitivity training for,
109, 1 1 8; training of. 102; in
upper-class schools, 123-124;
in working-class schools, 122
technology, 28, 67; role in educa-
tion, 96; use of, I SS
temperature conversion, 145-146
Terman, Lewis, 62
testosterone, 49, 5 1 , 52, 239nl 2
tests: achievement, 1 25; alterna-
tive, 64; American College Test
ing Program, 47; aptitude, 63;
bias in, 58, 63-64; civil service,
3 1 ; gender and scoring, 47-48,
66; Graduate Record Exam, 19;
IQ, 61 -65; and justifcation of
discrimination, 62; Learning Po
tential Assessment Device, 64;
and mathematical ability, 56-
61 ; multiple choice, 56, 1 1 3;
and pressures on teachers, 1 1 3,
1 35, 204; Scholastic Aptitude
Test, 6, 47, 48, 49, 5 1 , 56-61 ,
66, 1 1 0; standardized, 47, 48,
57, 1 08, 1 1 0, 1 1 3, 1 35, 1 71 , 204-
205, 21 2; Stanford-Binet IQ
test, 63-64; timed, 56, 57, 58,
1 71 , 239n1 2; and tracking, 62;
used to limit access to educa
tion, 62; validity of, 48, 56, 58,
66, 1 1 3, 1 1 4; "Visualization in
Three Dimensions," 53
test-taking: fear of, 1 7; stress in,
16
TexPREP program, 162
thinking: algebraic, 1 53; contex
tual mode, 1 74; critical, 202,
255n9; higher-order, 64, 2 1 2;
logical, 2 1 0; mathematically,
1 63; personal, 1 88; refective,
1 88; skills, 1 1 2, 153, 205
tracking, 2, 62, 68, 107-1 1 3, 21 2,
246n20; criteria, 124; negative
impact of. 124
Treisman, Uri, 174, 176
Tsang, Sau-Lim, 96
tutoring laboratories, 1 01 , 176
uni t pricing, 38
universities: and continuing edu
cation, 32-34; historically
black, 27, 128, 129, l S I , 160,
21 5. See also colleges
Varden, Stuart, 67
Volmink, John, 147
Wagner, Robert, 104
Walker, Helene, l i S, 1 87
Washington Post, 76
Weller, Judith, 1 8-1 9
Westinghouse Talent Search, 102,
1 51
Whitney, Hassler, 132, 162
Wilkerson, Doxey, 102
women: career goals, 93; career
representation, 45-46; college
attendance, 127; and comput
ers, 96-99; cooperation and con
text in learning, 173; cul tural
familiarity with mathematics,
84-85; employment wages, 34,
35-36; family infuence on, 75-
85; as frst mathematicians, 87;
and household income, 33; and
math anxiety, 7; and mathemati
cal achievement, 75-85; spatial
tasks of, 54-56; stereotypes of
math abilities, 16; theories of in
nate inferiority, 47, 48, 75,
241n39; and timed tests, 56;
ways of knowing, 1 71 -176. See
also gender; girls
Women Employed, 29
Xavier College, New Orleans, 1 28,
21 5
Yale University, 27
Zaslavsky, Claudia, 85, 87, 207
zero, 90, 91 . 180
264
About the Author
Claudia Zaslavsky, a mathematics teacher and consultant, has
spent much of her life helping people of all ages and back
grounds get over their fear and enjoy their newfound ability at
math. She is the author of Multicultural Mathematics : Interdisci
plinar Cooperative-Learing Activities, Africa Counts: Number
and Patter in African Culture, and other mathematics-oriented
books for children and adults.